Truth Be Told
by TealyBob
Summary: Bonnie puts a Truth Spell on Caroline, and now she's forced to...exactly. Tell the truth. Which sucks, because Caroline has been lying about a lot of things, and now they'll all come boiling up to the surface...
1. Bonnie, What Did You Do?

To sum it all up: Bonnie went insane. She tried to do a dark spell, and it pulled her into the Dark Side. But before she was able to finish the spell, Caroline stopped her. Caroline had ruined all the props Bonnie set up by dumping a bucket of water all over everything and then watched with fear as Bonnie came out of her trance, evil.

"What the hell?" Bonnie snarled.

"Bonnie, you can't do that spell. It's just…too much for you!" Caroline exclaimed, tossing the empty bucket to the side.

"You're the one that told me to! You said it was 'such a good idea'," Bonnie confronted, imitating Caroline's voice.

"Yeah well…I lied. I never wanted you to do this!" Caroline whined.

Bonnie glared at her. "What about all the other heavy spells we've done? You've been pressuring me to do those too!" Bonnie growled. "Those were just like this one!"

"Yeah, and I didn't want you doing those, either! I was hoping and planning on you seeing how evil they were, and then maybe you'd stop with magic all together. But apparently you can't use that kind of common sense," Caroline scolded, like it was Bonnie's fault.

Bonnie scoffed. "You're an idiot… Alright, while we're playing 'The Truth Game', what else have you been lying about?" Bonnie questioned, crossing her arms on her chest with a bit of edge.

Caroline's face suddenly got protective. "Uh," she started, "nothing," she lied, again.

Bonnie gave her an untrusting look. Then, she rolled her sleeves up and suddenly started chanting something witchy.

"Bonnie…what are you doing?" Caroline asked hesitantly. If she angered Bonnie further by questioning what she was doing…anything could happen.

Bonnie continued to speak and held her hand out towards Caroline. Caroline felt her throat close up. She clutched at her neck. She couldn't breathe. Not that she needed to, but the fact that she couldn't make any noise at all frightened her. 'Bonnie' she mouthed.

Then Bonnie stopped, and Caroline's throat opened back up, and she inhaled a raspy breath. "Bonnie!" she coughed. Bonnie raised her eyebrows as if she were innocent. "You nearly killed me!" Caroline exaggerated.

"You're already dead," Bonnie corrected with spite.

Caroline frowned up at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"What else have you been lying about?" Bonnie asked again, changing the subject.

"Everything," Caroline answered right away. "Jamie, Abbie, you, everything." Caroline gasped and covered her mouth.

Bonnie looked hurt, but yet content and pleased with herself at the same time. "And the truth comes out," she practically sang out, smugly.

"Oh mi God, why did I say that?" Caroline hissed, almost scolding herself. "Bonnie, I am –" She was trying to tell her that she was sorry, that she didn't mean it, but it wouldn't come out. "What did you do?" Caroline snarled.

"Helped you," Bonnie answered. "You can no longer lie. See? Now people can like you for you. The mean, sassy, bitchy you," Bonnie sneered.

Well that explains why she couldn't say she was sorry, because she _wasn't_.

"You've got to be kidding! Bonnie, undo it!" she commanded.

Bonnie tilted her head to the side, as if considering the thought. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nah. I'd rather not. I want to see how this affects everything!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

Caroline glared at her friend. She wanted to speak, but couldn't. Either she was too angry, or what she wanted to say wasn't true. So, instead of sitting there and fighting a lost battle, she got up and stormed out of Bonnie's house.

* * *

When she was at her own home and safe in her room, she called Elena. The phone rang and rang and rang and eventually went to her voicemail.

Caroline growled as the beep went off. "Elena, I swear, if you missed this call because you're too busy making out with a Salvatore, I'll beat you!" she snapped, not being able to help it. After she realized what she said, she growled again at herself…and Bonnie. "I'm sorry. I just…I think Bonnie finally went off the deep end. She put a freaking curse on me and I want to strangle her!" Caroline took a breath. She was overreacting. "Just call me back," she demanded, then hung up.

Caroline tossed her phone on her bed and took a breath. "Ok, this can't really be happening. No. It's not," she told herself. She inhaled and prepared herself. "Ok…my hair, is br—" the word just stopped in her throat. She let out all her air in a loud yell of frustration. She picked up her phone again and looked up her boyfriend's number.

"Need your help…Now!" she texted him.

In literally two minutes, there was a knock at her door. She rushed downstairs and opened the door to see Tyler standing there, looking expectant. "I'm here," he announced. "Now why?" he asked, walking in through the door.

"I can't lie," Caroline whined while shutting the door.

Tyler frowned. "Oh no, what ever shall we do?" he said in a bored, confused tone.

"I'm serious, Tyler. Bonnie went all psycho on me and now I have to tell the truth," Caroline complained.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Caroline started towards the stairs. "Yes, totally serious," she said, heading up with Tyler following. She heard him laugh. She stopped in her tracks and turned towards him. "How is this funny?" she demanded.

Tyler was smiling. "This is just like that Jim Carrey movie! 'Yes M'-ah…" he looked down, shaking his head while thinking. Then he looked up, snapped, and pointed at her. "'Liar Liar'!" he exclaimed.

Caroline gave him an 'are you serious' look. "No! It's not! He just had to tell the truth, I have to say what I'm thinking, too!" she cried.

Tyler frowned. "You do?"

Caroline shrugged. "Apparently. I just said it," she said with regret. Her face fell with a sad, pathetic, close-to-breaking face and she leaned her head down on his shoulder, which was a long way because he was a few steps lower than her on the stairs. Tyler rubbed her upper arms.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. We'll figure it out." He started leading her up the stairs. "Come on," he coaxed. They reached her room and went in. She sat on her bed and Tyler sat next to her. "So…why did Bonnie do this?" he asked.

Caroline slumped her shoulders forward. "Because I was lying…" she had to admit.

"Do you have a problem with lying?" he asked, almost sounding like he was questioning a little kid.

Caroline stuck out her bottom lip. "Not _anymore_…" she mumbled.

"Sooo, you _did_?" he clarified.

Caroline looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Yes," she sighed like a little kid.

Tyler leaned back. "Did you ever lie to me?" he questioned.

Caroline pouted. "Could you _please_ not take advantage of me right now?" she pleaded.

Tyler straightened up. "You're right. I'm sorry," he said, becoming his usual happy self.

"Thank you," she mumbled, looking forward again.

It was silent for a few moments, and then, "So _did_ you ever lie to me?"

"Tyler!" Caroline yelled. She looked at him with shock annoyance, but he just returned with a waiting expression. Caroline sighed and closed her eyes. "Yes," she moaned, again like a kid, like he had finally gotten it out of her and she was annoyed to tell him.

"Ok," he said quietly. He nudged her with his shoulder. "That's all I wanted to know." He may have acted like he was ok with it all, but Caroline could tell, he was hurt.

Tyler was only there for about half an hour, but he didn't ask Caroline any of the questions floating around in his mind.

* * *

The next morning, the first thing Caroline even thought about doing was checking to see if it had all just been a dream. "My name is Te—" aaaand….she couldn't finish. Caroline kicked her foot up from under the blankets and dropped her heel into the mattress. "Caroline Forbes," she hissed behind clenched teeth. She went back to sleep and decided to get up an hour later.

While she was getting ready after she finally pulled herself out of bed, she decided she'd talk to Elena about Bonnie, seeing as Elena hadn't returned her call from last night. She finished getting ready and went to the kitchen. She picked up a piece of paper and pen and quickly wrote a note to her mom. "Going to the school for my committee meeting. Be back tonight." She put down the pen and pinned the note to their refrigerator with a magnet.

She picked up her purse and headed to the door, but suddenly stopped. She wasn't going to the school…She was going to Elena's…She lied! She could lie!

Caroline tried to sigh in relief, but it came out as more of a growl of relief. But non-the-less, she was relieved. She smirked to herself. "Sorry, Bonnie. You're not as good as you think you are," she purred, flipping her hair over her shoulder and practically skipping out of the room.

Then she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she smiled as she cheerfully answered, "Hello?" She started walking and was out of the front door before Elena replied.

"Hey, Caroline," it was Elena, "what was your message about last night?" she asked.

"Oh, I had a little problem with Bonnie," she said, waving her hand like it was silly, walking down the sidewalk. "But it's go—" Caroline cut off. "It's g—" Caroline stopped walking and felt her cheeks get hot.

"…Caroline?" Elena checked.

Caroline searched for something to say. A lie. Her mouth was open like someone just told her the world was going to end and she couldn't think of a response. "Uh…" she said finally, straightening up and looking around frantically with the phone at her ear. "Um…you," she started, pointing ahead of her as if Elena was really there, "are in love with Ty—" She was about to say 'Tyler,' but seeing as Elena doesn't even like him a little, it wouldn't come out of her mouth. "Ugh! No! You're in love with Damon!" she shouted, intending for it to be a lie…but the name came out fully.

"What?" Elena scoffed. "No, Caroline. I don't. What's going on with you?"

Caroline smiled. Maybe she could find a _little_ pleasure in this… "I can't lie. Bonnie cursed me and now I can't finish a sentence if it's not true. And you, my friend, love Damon, or else his name wouldn't have come out," she preached smugly.

"What do you mean-what curse? What are you talking about?" Elena asked, ignoring the Damon statements.

"Bonnie," Caroline exclaimed. She had explained this before, in the message she left, and just now. "She's been sucked to the dark side! I'm now cured because she's crazy! God, Elena. I've told you this already! Is this just too hard for you to understand?" she snapped.

"Caroline!" Elena exclaimed, almost in a calming tone. "I'm sorry if I upset you, ok? This is just shocking, alright? I didn't think Bonnie could do this. Do you want me to talk to her?" she asked, trying to calm Caroline.

Caroline sighed. She understood that she had freaked for no reason, and that Elena was trying not to do the same. "No, it's alright. I can talk to Bonnie. I just thought you should know…Alright, well that's all I had to tell you. I'm going to talk to Bo—" she had no intention of talking to Bonnie, "Oh come on! I have to g— I can't ta— I'm hanging up!" Caroline yelled in frustration and pounded the 'end' button and growled at herself…and Bonnie. "I can't even say 'I have to go'? What the hell?" she yelled to herself, glad no one was around to hear her. She heard a few birds fluttering in the tree to the side of the sidewalk she was on.

"'What the hell…' You know, I was close friends with the man that first said that phrase. Sounded preposterous at the time," came an English voice from her side.

Caroline didn't even look up. She just scowled ahead. "Get lost, Klaus," she snarled.

"Oh, come on, love. Don't act like you're not happy to see me. You must be at least a little pleased…" he flattered himself, standing at her side in a sickeningly happy mood.

Caroline's insides were screaming at her to run. But she couldn't. She had to deal with this smoothly. She wanted to spat "no" right in his face; but thanks to Bonnie… "I told you to get lost," she said instead. She started walking away from him, but heard the slight sound of his steps falling in pace with hers.

"Yes, I heard you the first time, love," he said, coming up next to her again. He had a bit of a sway in his walk, like he was pleased about something.

Caroline had a sick feeling in her stomach. "What do you want?" she grumbled, looking away from him.

"Well, I just happened to be walking by—"

"-Whatever!"

"-And I couldn't help but over hear you on the phone," he continued, as if Caroline hadn't said a thing.

"You could very well have helped it if you heard me or not," she said, ratting him out.

"Well, you must be right," Klaus admitted, "considering the fact that you were cursed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," Klaus said with a smile.

Caroline stopped in her tracks. Fantastic, he knew.

Klaus had stopped right beside her and was now standing there patiently with his hands folded behind his back. A very faint, proud smirk hinted at the corners of his lips. Caroline turned her head towards him and immediately regretted it as she stiffened up. Not only was he incredibly close, but he looked even hotter when he was this close. "Stop smiling," she commanded.

Klaus tilted his head up slightly. "Why?" he tried her.

"Because it's sexy…." Caroline whipped her head forwards. "-Dammit!" she yelled. She didn't look back at Klaus, just started stomping away. But, of course, Klaus wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily. If you could even call that easy.

"So you are happy to see me?" he said smugly, as if he was so smart for figuring that one out. He was still marching beside her.

"I never said that," she stated.

"But you never denied it, either," Klaus informed her.

Caroline licked the front of her teeth in frustration. She couldn't answer him, not without shooting his ego mile high, not that it wasn't already out of the atmosphere. "Leave me alone," she snapped.

"I plan on doing just that, as soon as you answer me. Are you pleased to see me, Caroline?" he asked once again.

Caroline stopped in her tracks…again. "No," she answered with a smirk. She had told him "no" in hopes that he would see it as, 'No I'm not pleased to see you;' but what she really meant was, 'No, I'm not answering you.'

But, of course, Klaus caught on. "'No' what?" he pressed even further.

Caroline growled viciously. "Yes! I wa— Am happy to see you! Now, leave!" she yelled, highly upset with him and herself. And as he promised, Klaus smiled, bowed his head, and walked away with a smirk on his face. "Bastard," she mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that!" Klaus called back as he walked away.

"Good!" Caroline yelled back, a little too forcefully.

She turned away from him and sighed deeply. She felt like crying because she was so tired and overwhelmed. "I need a drink…" she mumbled pathetically to herself, and started to stalk down the street to the Grill. Little did she know, she'd have to face someone looking to pry more things out of her than Klaus just had-

Kol.

* * *

**Okay, so review so I know whether to continue or not! Thank you, you lovey reader X)**


	2. Lying on Paper

At the bar, Caroling ran into Damon on her way in…literally.

"Whoa!" she grunted as his chest made a rough impact on hers. "Watch where you're going, you drunkard!" she snapped, not seeing who it was.

Damon frowned down at her. "Ooh, sassy little Barbie, aren't we?" he teased, moving his shoulders diagonally to make sure he didn't touch the ticked off princess as he maneuvered around her. "But may I point out that if _you_ had been looking, we wouldn't have had to have had this little exchange," he said bluntly, pointing between the two of them.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Damon," she scoffed, "I don't have ti—" Apparently, she did have time. Caroline glared at him when she couldn't finish her sentence. "I don't want to talk to you," she said prissily.

Damon sneered at her unpleasant attitude and started to walk out the building. "Wow. You'd think someone with a truth curse would become a _little_ nicer…" he mumbled, then left before Caroline could question how he knew.

Caroline turned around and headed for an open stool right next to a hunched over figure at the bar. Just as she sat down and got 'comfortable,' the man next to her turned and purred, "A truth curse, huh?" Caroline clenched her fist and let out a ruffled, low moan. Kol. "How'd you manage to earn that?" he asked, smirking and taking sips of his glass of…whatever it was he drank.

Caroline just looked to the bartender. "Something with vodka," she almost pleaded. "Lots of vodka…"

"Did your cute, little, witchy friend finally get enough of you?" Kol continued to inspect, right on, and watching her closely.

Caroline put on her best This-Is-How-It-Is-And-I-Don't-Want-To-Talk-About-It look and explained to him slowly, "Yes, a truth curse. I'm not in the mood for this right now, and I don't want to answer any of your questions," in her best This-Is-How-It-Is-And-I-Don't-Want-To-Talk-About-It expression.

"Oh come on!" Kol whined. "You have to at least answer me one question," he pleaded.

"No," Caroline responded immediately.

"Why not?" he whined again, sounding like the over groan baby that he was.

"Because I don't have to!" she snapped back.

"What would you rate me on that superficial scale that you girls use?" he asked, ignoring her red-lights.

Caroline frowned at him like he was retarded. "The Hot Scale?" she checked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "Yeah that. What am I?" he asked. He looked like an excited kid about to find out if Santa was coming that year or not. "I figure you see me as about a one, don't you?" he teased with a smirk.

Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise. "A one?" she double checked.

"Well of course. You have to tell the truth so anything higher than a four, you'd best not even try to work out of your mouth. So I figure you might as well go with one and just get it over with," he said.

Caroline involuntarily chuckled. Oh mi God, she thought. He thinks the lower numbers are better. He's got the whole freaking system reversed!

She smirked and leaned forward to rest her folded arms on the counter. She inched towards him and almost whispered, "You see, Kol, that's where you're wrong." Kol slightly frowned. "You're nowhere near a one," she smirked. Kol made a face that showed he was incredibly confused. She was getting him. She scrunched her nose for a second, as if in thought. "You're no lower than a six," she finally answered.

Kol stared at her expressionlessly. He would have looked confused beyond belief if it weren't for the angered and annoyed look he wore at the same time.

Caroline looked up as the bartender started to approach with her drink. She pulled out a five dollar bill and placed it on the counter just before she took the glass from him. "Hell," she started again, looking back to Kol, "You might even be an eight!" she laughed.

Then she gave him a final 'Sorry, dude' look and left him sitting there thinking he was a loser.

Caroline took a drink while strutting off and chuckling, but saw Bonnie enter the Grill around her glass. She cut off her swallow and headed for her friend as she pulled the drink away from her mouth. "Bonnie!" she choked out.

The brunette looked up and smirked. She flicked her bangs out of her face and started practically skipping towards Caroline like the queen of the witches.

"Ok," Caroline began, stopping right in front of Bonnie. "Take this damn curse off me – Right now!" Caroline commanded, pointing for more effect, because Glee had said it adds more emotion…

Bonnie pursed her lips. "How about not? It's just getting started," she replied sassily.

"How about yes! I hate it! I swear, if you take this off me now, I promise I won't li—" Caroline grinded her teeth and almost made a growling face like a dog at Bonnie.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows, waiting for the end of the sentence. "You won't what? What? Hm? Why can't you finish the sentence, Care? Oh! Because it's not true!" Bonnie exclaimed, rubbing everything in her face. "You clearly haven't learned anything yet, honey, so I think I'll let you keep it for a while longer. Or a lot longer, depends what mood I'm in…"

Caroline lashed at her. "Bonnie! This isn't amusing anymore! I'm not joking around! Take the curse off!" she demanded.

Bonnie just tilted her head. "No, Caroline. And if you tell me what to do, one more time, I'll take way your ability to speak at all!"

Caroline pursed her lips angrily at her witchy friend and glared at her.

Bonnie raised her shoulders, like it was an exciting game. "Have a nice day!" she said lightly and shoved past Caroline, going further into the building.

Caroline glared after her, but got an idea and pushed past people to get out of the building. She took her phone out of her pocket again as she walked across the street towards the abandoned sidewalk across from the Grill. She dialed up Jeremy's number and called him anxiously.

"Hello?" he asked, like he was confused that she had called him.

"Jeremy! You and Bonnie still have a thing, don't you? Yeah, well get down here to the Grill. Now. I don't care what you're doing right now, this is kinda big…" she said, happy that she could get through every sentence without her throat closing up on her.

"Why? What's going on with Bonnie?" he asked, sounding worried.

"Well…she might have become evil…and I nee— want your help. So could you come down here? Please?" she begged.

She heard him sigh. "Eh-yeah. I'll be down there in a few minutes," he gave into her.

"Fantastic," she purred and hung up, now having to wait patiently for him to arrive.

But as she waited, she started to ponder over to the letter she had written her mother that morning. How had she been able to write that? She wasn't going anywhere near the school that day…Maybe she was able to write lies?

Caroline opened up the notepad on her phone and began typing frantically. "My name is," she took a pause for the unneeded buildup that only she would experience. "Tera Vinchattle." She completed the sentence with a period. Caroline laughed out loud against her will. "Thank God!" she moaned, throwing her head back with a huge smile on her face. She could lie…in written words.

"I guess I'll be doing a lot of texting for the next few days…" she commented to herself, looking back to her phone and bringing up Klaus' number. How she had it, she had no idea. Part of her thought he had taken her phone and added it in, but she had just been too lazy to remove it. She had, however, had the energy to change his name to "Original Dick" in her contacts.

She opened up a text and began typing the first public lie she'd made for the past two days. "No, actually, I wasn't happy to see you this morning. I was pissed off because I hate you." It was a pathetic message, yes, but at least it would make him think differently of their conversation this morning. She hit send and giggled as she kinda danced in her place.

"Caroline?" Jeremy asked, coming around the corner of the block and walking towards her with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh! Good! Ok, so listen, 'cause I don't want to explain it more than once to you. So, Bonnie got pulled to the dark side, and now she's a she-devil. Literally. And in the moment of her first being evil, she cursed me to tell the truth. So now, no matter what kind of lie or fib or even every day sayings I try to say that aren't true, it won't come out of my mouth." Jeremy had a look on his face that he understood everything, until she went into detail of 'every day sayings' not coming out of her mouth. She sighed. "For instance, this morning I tried to end a conversation with Elena by saying 'I have to go,' but since I didn't really _have_ to go, I wasn't able to finish the sentence. Get it?" she asked.

Jeremy frowned. "But you just said it," he pointed out.

"Yeah, because I'm telling you what happened, which that did happen… So, watch," she said, turning slightly. She was surprised with herself for being able to explain this in a good mood. "Jeremy," she began, getting ready for the demonstration. "I can't tal— …See?" she asked.

Jeremy frowned harder. He didn't look confused; he looked like he was afraid she was insane. "I just tried to say 'I can't talk,'" she explained further. "But seeing as I do have that ability, I couldn't finish the sentence." She dropped her hands that she had held out while trying to explain to her sides and huffed. "Please tell me you got that…"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, but I think I understand enough. So, what did you call me for?" he asked, getting to the point.

Caroline smirked and looked at the Grill. "We nee— want the normal Bonnie back, and seeing as she won't liste— you know what I mean, I nee— _want_ you to do it for me," she said, getting angry that she was having trouble speaking.

Jeremy frowned at her…again. It was like that was his only facial expression. "What am I supposed to do? She won't listen to you, why am I different?" he asked.

"Because she loves you! And I don't know…whatever you think might make her shake out of her dark state she's in. Go-Seduce her or something! Just do anything!" Caroline nudged him off of the sidewalk and onto the road towards the Grill. She smiled at him in the best 'go-getter' way possible, but he looked incredibly worried and not sure of himself.

Caroline didn't have the opportunity to throw him a cheerleading gig, because her phone started ringing. Klaus. She clicked answer and brought it up to her ear. But he spoke before she even made a sound.

"Now say it out loud," he requested, referring to the text she had sent him.

Caroline growled in frustration. "How did you know?" There was no way he could have figured out that she could lie through written words.

"I've been around for millenniums, sweetheart. I know how a truth spell works."

"Then you should also know how stressful and annoying they are! So it would really help if you left me alone through this whole thing!" she snapped.

"Now why would I do that? This is possibly the only way I'm going to get you to confess your love for me," he teased.

Caroline scoffed. "My _what_ for you? I do not love you, Klaus. Never have, never w—" Caroline gasped.

She could practically hear him smirk over the phone. "Never will, huh? Well, your future says otherwise, darling," he purred.

"I don't love you!" she snapped again, anger clearly visible behind her words.

"Yet," he corrected.

"And I won't anytime soon," she snarled, ignoring his one word interruption.

"We'll see about that, love. Until then, try not to dwell on me too much," he smiled, and then hung up on her before she could repeat her 'I do not love you' line for a third time.

"Bonnie!" Caroline growled, even though the witch was nowhere to be seen. This was all Bonnie's fault, in Caroline's eyes. And she was going to do everything to get that damn curse off of her, before she confessed to something she'd been keeping hidden for nearly four years now…

* * *

**Alright, I cut her sentences off randomly, and it even gets a bit confusing sometimes to me, too. So if there's any sentence she couldn't finish, and you don't know what she was ending it with, just PM me, or review with the sentence and a questionmark and I'll finish it for you!**

_Thank you, guys!_


	3. Back into Jay

Caroline practically threw her phone back into her purse and looked ahead at the Grill in front of her. Jeremy better get this done right…

"How does this even happen?" she hissed out loud to herself. She crossed her arms at the building and stood there "patiently".

She managed to go two minutes before huffing in annoyance. She mumbled a few negative thoughts to herself and stepped backwards. But little did she know that someone had tried to pass her on the sidewalk and she had just stepped right into them.

"Whoa!" she cried, trying to grab something to steady herself as she started to crash backwards, which just happened to be the person's arms.

"Oh, I am _so_ sorry!" the person apologized, helping her stabilize herself. Caroline looked up after she stopped heading for the ground. The man in front of her was…well, one of the hottest guys she'd seen in her life. He had black hair that didn't look like it had been brushed in any sort of direction. It was like Stefan's hairstyle, but Damon's care-free look. And his eyes were grey. Yes, grey. Like he was wearing fake contacts. His shirt was like one Klaus would wear, long sleeved, tight, and looked almost like it was a second skin. Except that his shirt was a pale blue, and not Klaus' usual tan/brown.

"Oooh, God, you're cute…" Caroline commented unintentionally. The man laughed. And when he did, he had perfectly white teeth, and Caroline felt like saying the sentence again, just because that was the only thought going through her head.

The man looked down and frowned. "Oh, you seem to have dropped your purse," he observed, leaning down and picking up the bag she hadn't even realized she'd let go of.

"Thank you," she said to his bent head.

He stood up and handed her bag to her, without even looking at it. "There you are," he said with a smile.

Caroline smiled in return and put on a flirty face. "I'm s—" Ok, no, she wasn't sorry she ran into him; in fact she was pleased about it. "I'm Caroline," she finished instead.

The man tilted his head down, like he was slightly bowing to her. "My name is Jay," he introduced, reaching for her hand and lifting it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "It's a pleasure, Caroline." Caroline bit her bottom lip and forcefully blushed, making herself look cute and shy. He released her hand at her side and shook his head gently. "Again, terribly sorry for the trouble. I hope nothing was damaged in your bag," he said friendlily.

Caroline shook her head also. "Oh, no. I'm sure nothing was harmed," she smiled at him.

Jay nodded at her once and began walking around her. "Well, this small exchange really was pleasant. I hope to see you around, Caroline," he gushed, with the nicest look on his face ever…

"Yes! I do hope so," she implored back at him, smirking and tilting her head down, the way Katherine does often to get her way.

Jay shot her one last huge smile and turned to walk away, a bit of a swagger in his walk.

Caroline's eyes wondered down as he descended away from her. "That – is one hot as-"

"Caroline," Jeremy interrupted, coming up next to her.

Caroline snapped out of her day dream and looked to Jeremy. "Well? What happened?" she interrogated.

Jeremy shrugged with a smirk. "Nothing that would please you." He turned to look over his shoulder at the Grill. Caroline followed his gaze to meet a devilish smirking Bonnie standing by the door, with a waiting expression on her face. "But I might be getting lucky…" Jeremy commented.

Caroline smacked him on the arm. He frowned and looked back at her. "I didn't send you in there for that! You were supposed to make her take the spell off!" she scolded.

Jeremy moved back and forth in his place. "Hey, I did help you, alright? She did some mojo crap and now it's not as bad," he insisted, covering himself.

Caroline glared at him. "'Not as bad'? How does a truth spell become 'not as bad'?"

"Well, all I know is that now you can say little things."

Caroline threw her hands up in exaggeration. "Oh, that's helpful!" Then her eyes got big. "Oh! I just li— …Ok, I didn't lie, but I was sarcastic! I couldn't do that before," she beamed at him.

"See?" he said. "You should be thanking me."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll thank you when the spell is gone! For good!" she denied him.

Jeremy shrugged. "Fine. Have fun not lying," he sassed before turning around and walking towards Bonnie again.

Caroline fumed in her place, not being able to think of anything honest to say. So, she'd have to go with an opinion. "Jerk!" she called after him, to which he ignored her.

It was later that day, maybe three hours later, that Caroline finally went home and to her room. She sighed and flopped down on her bed. Her mother still wasn't home, so she was alone. And because she was alone…

"AHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"My, my," someone said from her left. Caroline gasped and looked over, propping herself up on her hands. "Aggressive, aren't we?"

Caroline growled and stood up from her bed. "What the hell are you doing here, Klaus?" she demanded.

Klaus was in her window, literally. He was sitting on the sill of the open window, his feet crossed, and hands pushing his body up from next to him. His shoulders were up, like he was shrugging. "Thought I'd stop by for a visit," he mused, making a thoughtful face.

"I'm really not in the mood to talk to you," she moaned at him.

Klaus frowned at her. He pushed himself out of the window sill and into her room, standing up straight. "Oh, that's unfortunate," he mumbled.

"How is that unfortunate?" she demanded.

Klaus was walking further into her room. "Because I don't plan on leaving," he said simply. He was casually walking towards her vanity table. He picked up a random object, her eyeliner, and fiddled around with it in his hands. "I figure, since you have to tell the truth, you might as well just tell me your feelings for me now, and save yourself some time and embarrassment," he suggested.

Caroline growled at him and marched over with a glare on her face. "I'm not saying anything on that matter," she informed in, taking her pencil from his hands and slamming it back down onto the desk.

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her as he reached backwards without looking and picked it back up. "And why not? Afraid you'll say too much?" he teased.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, not saying anything in return, knowing the words would just cut off if she even tried to talk. She turned around and sat back down on the end of her bed. "Is that all you wanted from me?" she demanded, annoyed with his presence.

Klaus frowned, thinking. "No." He looked over at her and finally set down her makeup while starting to move closer to her. "I want to know if you have the intelligence to use this spell to your liking," he explained.

Well, he didn't really explain…she was still very confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Klaus sat down next to her and leaned his elbow on his knee as he turned his torso to look at her. "Using the spell," he started, slowly, as if thinking, "tell me what my sister is doing at the moment," he requested.

Caroline made a face at him that said 'how am I supposed to know?' "How am I supposed to know? I don't talk to her on a regular basis!" she denied.

"Use the spell in your advantage," Klaus urged on.

"Why are you doing this? It's not like it's going to do you any good," she snapped.

Klaus nodded to the side, acknowledging her input. "No," he agreed, "but it could definitively help you." Caroline frowned at him harder. She was about to speak again, but Klaus beat her to it. "Is my sister shopping for shoes at this very minute?" he asked.

Caroline relaxed her eyebrows. "No," she answered.

Klaus gave her a 'see?' look and then prepared to give another question. "Is she killing someone?"

"No," Caroline answered again, this time with a bit more snarky.

Klaus looked forward at the wall ahead of them. "Is she speaking with Kol?" he asked another option.

"N—" Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise. "She is," she corrected herself.

Klaus smirked and took out his phone. He dialed Rebekah's number quickly and put it on speaker phone as they listened to the ringer. He put his finger to his lips, instructing her to keep quiet.

"What?" Rebekah's voice snapped out of the phone.

"Rebekah, might I ask what you're doing at the moment?" Klaus asked, already knowing the answer.

"Trying to knock some sense into Kol. He's being an idiot again. This morning I found him with some sl—" Klaus had hung up on her, having gotten what he was looking for.

Caroline had a look on her face that made it clear she was shocked and pleased about this new information.

Klaus put his phone away and looked back to her. "You see? You can find out anything you wish, if you know the right questions."

Caroline looked at him as she thought of something to get back at him with. She smiles devilishly before turning her body to face him and saying, "Alright. Let's try it out. You spend a lot of your time, nowadays…in your…ro— house! …" she was trying to piece it together with whatever words she came up with. "…In your house…scammi—… drinki—…killin—…" she frowned, not being able to think of anything.

"You might as well give up now, love. It could be anything," Klaus prompted.

"No!" Caroline protested. "You spend a lot of your time, in your house…doing something! Doing…writi—singi—drawing. Drawing!" she exclaimed, happy with her accomplishment.

Klaus stared at her with a blank look. Either, he didn't want her to figure it out, or he was waiting to see her expression when she did figure it out.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, like she could read him if she looked hard enough. "Drawing…scener— …Damn it, Klaus. Why did you tell me to do this? It's too hard to do quickly!" she complained.

Klaus smirked. "It was easy for me," he stated.

Caroline raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "You? You were stuck with this, too?" she laughed.

Klaus dropped his head forward and nodded. "Indeed…But only for a week or so," he admitted.

Caroline turned even more towards him, getting anxious. "Well, how'd you get rid of it?" she questioned.

Klaus sighed in thought. "The truth spell put on me was…different," he started to explain. His hands were folded in his lap, and his right foot was subconsciously tapping the ground in a soundless, random beat. "I was given the spell because of an act I had done. I'd turned a girl I shouldn't have. And all I had to do was fix what I'd done," he stated.

Caroline stared at him with her eyebrows raised, waiting for more. "So? What did you do?" she pressed.

"I killed her," he said simply, making a face that said 'no big deal'. "And because the problem was solved, I was able to lie again."

Caroline groaned in frustration as she put her face in her hands and fell back onto her bed, lying down in exhaustion. "Well I can't exactly kill Bonnie, so thanks for the non-help!" she complained in her hands.

"You'll figure it out…" Klaus said in a sing-songy tone, like it wasn't that big of a deal. He didn't tend to take things seriously. "And just know," he said over his shoulder at her, "I intend to bother you as much as I can until you do," he informed her.

Caroline groaned again. "Can't you just leave me alone?" she whined.

Klaus hummed in thought. He leaned back on the bed next to her, looking sideways at her close face. "As tempting as that sounds…no."

Caroline flopped her hands down from her face so they bounced on the bedding beside her waist. She turned her head and glared at him. Their faces were about a foot apart, watching each other while relaxing on the bed. Caroline stared into his eyes, actually making the appearance that she was 'loosing herself in the blue pools of his eyes'. But then, in a split second, she got tired of it.

"Get out," she instructed.

Klaus sighed, not moving. "And just like that, you're back to pushing me away," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I am. Because you don't deserve to be pulled at," she retorted.

Klaus stared at her, thinking about her sentence, then frowned, clearly confused. Caroline slowly closed her eyes in annoyance. "You know what I meant," she informed him.

"Do I?" he tried her.

Caroline rolled her eyes and stood up off the bed, making her way away from him and towards the door. She opened it groggily and turned back to him with her hand holding open the doorway. "Out," she instructed.

Klaus sighed and stood up. He stared at her, almost in a glare, as he walked up to the open door; but he stopped when he came up next to her. He looked down at her for a few moments, the heat of his breath brushing her face. Then he inhaled slowly. "I guess you'll never know what I draw in my own personal time," he said, as if she were missing out.

Caroline gave him a fake smirk. "I can figure that out on my own, thanks," she answered him, pushing on his shoulder and forcing him by hand out of her room.

Klaus finally gave in and started heading out of the house at his own will. Caroline stopped at the top of the stairs and watched him reach the front door. "I'll see you later, then, Caroline," he said goodbye. Then he exited the building.

As soon as the door was shut behind him, she moaned a sigh and let herself go limp against the railing. "Oh, Bonnie is _so_ going to pay!" she yelled to herself.

*Meanwhile*

"Elijah, what are we doing here? You dragged us back to Mystic Falls, and now we're just sitting around on our arses doing absolutely nothing!" Rebekah complained, sitting on the back of the couch Elijah was sitting on in their living room.

Elijah sighed. "Must I tell you, again, that Klaus was the one that undaggered you in this town and forced you to live in this house. None of which was my doing," he answered, returning to the papers in front of him.

"Well what am I supposed to do? This town is so damn boring…" she whined further.

Elijah continued to squint and read the yellow-ish papers in his hands. "What about the Salvatore brother you were fond of? Why don't you go rendezvous with him?" he asked, not really caring at all.

Rebekah hopped down from the couch and leaned her arms on it instead. "He's with his precious doppelganger…" she started.

But as she began rambling on about the Salvatore's and their girlfriend, Elijah was becoming incredibly dizzy, incredibly fast. Every breath he took felt like ice. He raised his arm to his chest, feeling pain, and loosened his tie quickly, hoping that would help the airflow. But it did nothing. He was being suffocated, by nothing. Elijah tried to make noise, to get Rebekah's attention, but couldn't make a sound. His mind was spinning, his lungs were expanding, and his throat felt as it were being cut.

Elijah started to stand up, in a bit of a panic, but he stopped suddenly, along with the pain and dizziness and strange feelings. But they were all replaced with a feeling of…depression.

"…last time he basically told me off. So, no, I'm not rendezvousing with him," Rebekah finished, having talked over Elijah's entire situation. She looked at the back of Elijah's head to see he hadn't moved. "Elijah? Are you even listening?" she asked sassily.

Elijah pushed the papers from his lap and started to stand up, looking out of a nearby window, in a bit of a trance. "Rebekah…" he started.

"What?" Rebekah replied, looking down at her nails, and not giving him any attention.

Elijah started to smile. "You know I love her, too, don't you?" he asked, not looking at her, but still out the window.

Rebekah frowned and stood up straight, getting off the couch completely. "You're in love with whom?" she demanded.

Elijah smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Elena Gilbert…"

Rebekah immediately stiffened up and frowned at him. "What?" she demanded, actually offended.

"She's flawless, Rebekah. I've loved her ever since I laid eyes on her…" he said in a trance.

Rebekah started walking towards him. "Elijah, what in God's name is wrong with you?" she sneered.

Elijah finally turned towards her and looked at her as if she'd just been incredibly rude, which she had. "What do you mean? I'm just stating facts, Rebekah," he corrected her.

Rebekah didn't know what to say. How was she to respond to this? So, instead, she decided she needed help. "Kol!" she yelled, staring at Elijah as if he were a monster she was frightened of.

"What?" he called back down from somewhere off in the house.

"I need you!" she yelled, not looking away from Elijah.

Elijah was just frowning at her. But then he turned to the window again and that stupid, dreamy trance came back to his face.

Kol marched down the stairs, not having wanted to get up and help. "What's the matter, now?" he sighed.

Rebekah raised her eyebrow, getting ready to explain. "Well…Elijah's now informing me that he's in love with the doppelganger," she answered.

Kol shrugged. "So?"

Rebekah looked at Kol, finally. "That was one of his deepest, darkest secrets. And he just opened his mouth and let it pour out. Sound familiar?" she pressed.

Kol looked at Elijah, starting to get what she was saying. "The Jade Period?" he asked Rebekah.

Rebekah nodded. "Yeah…" she took a deep breath and looked sideways at Elijah. "Elijah, brother…are you alright?" she asked, wanting him to just _talk_ again.

Elijah frowned and looked at her. "Are you indicating that being in love would make me ill?" he asked. "I happen to be perfectly fine, Rebekah. I do not need you to tell me—" He was cut off by what looked like a sudden, massive headache that just sprung on him. His eyes clamped shut and he made a pained face as he leaned forward to catch himself on a chair as he started slowly falling.

"Elijah?" Kol checked, becoming confused and worried for his brother's sake.

Elijah shook his head, trying to get through the pain. Then he relaxed, and let go of a breath. He slowly looked up and frowned at his siblings. "That just happened, did it not?" he asked, as if he could have just imagined it all. Rebekah nodded in response to his question. Elijah breathed deeply and stood up straight. He straightened himself out and tilted his head, stretching his neck out. "Let's forget this small happening, and move on. If something similar like this happens again, inform me immediately," he requested.

"Why?" Kol questioned. "What just happened to you?"

Elijah stared at him for a moment, and then answered, "The same thing that happened during the Jade Period."

Kol raised his eyebrows, as if saying 'oh, that's nice'. "Oh," he said aloud before taking a heavy sigh. "Well…shit."

* * *

Alright, I know a lot of you will probably stop reading because I introduced an OC and I'm talking about the 'Jade Period'. But I do promise you that I will explain everything as much as I possibly can, and that the next chapter will be...pretty damn entertaining... *Evil Smile*

So, again, if there's any words, sentences, thoughts, or anything thing that I cut off, and you're not sure what she was going to finish it with, just message me, or comment, or talk to me any way you like and tell me what she DID say, and I'll tell you what she was SUPPOSED to say. Haha

Hope you like it...Please review. Because I love you guys and what to know your opinions.


	4. Crying over Boyfriends

"Kol!" Elijah scolded. They were in the middle of the cemetery, in the middle of the night, and the younger brother had just suddenly snapped. "Control yourself!"

"You have no room to talk!" Kol roared back. His eyes were filled with tears, his face burning with rage. "You were perfect in their eyes!" His voice boomed through the air for almost an entire mile diameter around them. "I was just another mouth to feed. Another body to look after!"

"This isn't you," Elijah tried telling him. But it did no good.

"Yes, Elijah. This is me! The _real_ me!"

Elijah took hold of Kol's shoulders, keeping him still. "This is Jade!" he corrected.

Kol knocked his brother's hands away forcefully. "And what did Jade do? He brought out our secrets! So, yes, brother, this is me! The part of me you don't know!" He had pointed his finger determinedly at Elijah on the word 'you'.

Elijah didn't reply. He knew Kol was right. He watched his brother with a sneer. "You wouldn't have been driven to this state if it weren't for Jade," he snarled.

"Shut up!" Kol yelled so lout that Elijah felt vibration. Kol stared him down. Elijah stood back from him, watching him as if he were insane. "This isn't about Jade! You know nothing, Elijah! Absolutely nothing of what I feel!" He appeared to be calming down, but was really just taken to a state of depression and hurt. A tear fell from his eye. "They hated me," he whispered.

Elijah softened also, trying to become more soothing. "Our parents did not hate you," he protested, wanting to keep Kol at this more relaxed tone.

"Yes, yes they did," Kol corrected. "You were the first, after Aaron died. So you were special…Klaus was born of another man, so Mother made sure to watch out for him and keep him from Father's hand," Kol explained. "Rebekah was the first girl. And Henrik, he was a miracle. They were too old to have more children, but still he came," he continued, telling Elijah why everyone else was special. "Finn and I, we were just extras. Even he felt it! That's why we were so close, because we held no purpose."

Elijah shook his head, wanting to tell his brother just how wrong he was. But before he could even get words out of his mouth, Kol suddenly clamped his eyes shut and dropped his head down, bringing his hands up to run his fingers through his hair. Elijah heard him chuckle.

Kol stood back up, an annoyed 'smile' on his face. The tears had fallen from his eyes, but he looked like he was getting over a complete melt down. He dropped his hands and nodded. He wasn't looking at Elijah, but somewhere to his left. "Did that just happen?" he checked, just as Elijah had before.

Elijah sighed, relieved that his brother was back to normal. "That just happened," he affirmed.

Kol nodded again, accepting it all, but not liking it by any means. "Right," he concluded. He straightened himself out and took a step away, meaning to leave. "I'd appreciate it if this stayed with just the two of us. Sound good?" he asked, still walking away.

"Whatever pleases you, brother," Elijah promised, following his brother for a silent walk home. But now Elijah knew for certain; the Jade Period was definitively back.

.

Caroline pulled her hair into a ponytail as she yawned. She had just gotten up, and was not looking forward to the day ahead of her. She stood up from her vanity mirror and stretched as she headed for her door, still in her blue tank top and green pajama pants.

"Mom?" she called, exiting her room and heading down the hallway for the stairs. "You home?" she asked. There was no reply. "Guess not…" she mumbled as she started walking down the stairs.

Caroline entered her kitchen and noticed a piece of paper setting alone on their granite counter. Caroline sighed and picked it up, blinking strongly to try to clear her sleepy eyes.

"Caroline," she sighed, reading it out loud. "Emergency call out of town…should be back by supper…" Caroline flopped her hand on the counter and released the paper. "Fantastic…" she mumbled, going to the refrigerator. She opened the door and peered in. "Not only am I having serious issues," she said to herself, surfing the food inside the refrigerator, "but I can't talk to my mother about it anytime soon, either."

She stood up and reached for a small yogurt container before shutting the door. She turned to the counter and pealed the top off and reached for the drawer that held the silverware. Reaching for a spoon, she heard a knock come from the front door. Frowning, she placed the spoon on the counter next to her yogurt and started walking for the front door.

Through the fancy window, Caroline saw Tyler's deformed shape. She opened the door, still in her pajamas, and tilted her head at him. "Hi," she greeted.

Tyler was wearing his usual jeans, t-shirt, and black jacket thrown over it. His hands were in his pockets and he rocked slightly in his place. He smiled at her. "Hi," he said back. He stepped forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. Caroline stood to the side so he could come in the house.

Once inside, she shut the door and made her way for the kitchen again. "What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. She reached her counter and picked her yogurt up again and put the spoon inside of it, stirring it before eating.

Tyler shrugged and sat down at her table, relaxing. "Just thought I'd swing by and say hi." Caroline raised her eyebrows as if to say 'Is that it?' Tyler took a deep breath. "And to tell you I talked to Bonnie," he added.

Caroline put down her yogurt and rushed towards the table excitedly. "And?" she pressed, pulling out a chair and sitting down on the edge of the seat.

Tyler looked uneasy. He sat up straighter in his seat and made a deliberate effort not to look her in the eye. "Well…now I understand what you meant by her having gone…dark," he said, trying to make something good come out of his obvious bad news.

Caroline nodded her head a couple times. "Yeah, everyone will realize that. What else?" she demanded, not catching or noticing his uneasiness.

He raised his shoulders. "I loosened the spell. You can now make little sayings."

"I already had that," Caroline informed him, waving her hand like it was no big deal.

Tyler nodded, like he was saying 'oh.' He stared at the table, looking guilty.

Caroline frowned. "Tyler? You ok?" He looked up at her with that look; the look that told her he was keeping something from her. She tilted her head seriously at him. "What?"

Tyler found a spot on the table and stared at it. "I hooked up with her."

Caroline didn't hear his words. She did, but didn't register them. She shook her head, not losing her enthusiasm at all. "Hooked up as in…took her on a date and talked to her about the curse?" she asked, forgetting for the moment what 'hooked up' stood for, but not caring if he had just taken her on a simple date.

Tyler raised his gaze to her eyes. "No. I mean, hooked up with her," he repeated the same sentence.

Caroline's face slowly started to fade from cheery and intrigued to slightly confused. "I'm not getting it. I mean, 'hooked up' means you—" she stopped midsentence because of Tyler's face. It clearly told her she was on the right track. Caroline felt the color drain from her face. "Oh mi God," she mumbled. She didn't entirely have her mind wrapped around it, but she got the small preview of her soon panic attack in having a slight thought of what he meant. "You…Are you telling me you, like, _slept_ with her?" she clarified.

Tyler leaned forward, panicked. "I didn't want to! She had this way of like, seducing me! I couldn't help it!" he defended himself.

"You couldn't help sleeping with my best friend?" she snapped, more disgusted than anything. Sure she was hurt, and felt like the thing she loved had just backfired on her, but the thought that he hurt her in _that_ way…

"Yes! I mean…no. I don't even remember last night all that well," he admitted.

Caroline let out an exasperated cough. "Oh, so you were drunk?" she observed.

"No!" Tyler denied, without even thinking of it.

"You weren't drunk? That means you in your right mind when you did it!" she informed him. She stood up, turned away from him, and brought a hand to her forehead, trying to calm her oncoming headache. She also felt the back of her throat start to tense up – she was going to cry.

Tyler remained in his seat, but leaned against the table on his forearms. "No! Caroline, just let me explain. I told her I wanted no part in it. I _didn't_ want any part in it," he pledged.

Caroline actually chuckled, in rage, of course. "Oh really? Because, last time I checked, it takes two willing people to hook up, Tyler!" she raved, turning back around and staring at him. "Unless you're telling me it was rape," she tried, hoping that was the issue.

Tyler looked back down at the table, a little annoyed with Caroline. "No, it wasn't rape," he assured her. Caroline closed her eyes in exasperation. That means he had been willing. Tyler realized that he should have changed his answer the second her eyes were shut. "Oh mi God, Caroline!" he fumed, actually angry with her for making this 'hard' to explain. "It was just a one night fling, no big deal," he insisted.

Caroline looked to the side, hands going up to rest on her hips. "Yeah, see here the thing," she started, looking back to him, "Bonnie doesn't do 'one night flings'. Once you 'do her', you're wrapped around her finger. Whether you like it, or not."

Tyler didn't reply, just looked up at her with that look that made it obvious he was defeated, but didn't want to admit it. Caroline sighed, feeling her headache start getting worse and her stomach becoming jittery. She licked her bottom lip and dropped her head to look down for a moment.

She brought her head back up and swallowed, looking at the floor still. "Get out," she instructed firmly.

Tyler gave her a tired and worn sideways look. "Care, come o—" he started.

"Get out!" she snapped again, this time furious.

Tyler pursed his lips and abruptly stood up. He stormed over to the door and, without any words, opened the door, stepped out, and slammed the door shut behind him. Caroline jumped slightly as the slam startled her and shook the house slightly.

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip, doing her best to control herself. But it was no use. Tyler had cheated on her. That was almost as bad as being told she was going to be a blood-sucking-demon for the rest of eternity.

"No," Caroline told herself, looking up to the ceiling and feeling her eyes fill with tears. "No, I've got this…" she tried to convince herself not to fall down that black pit of despair, willing the tears to disintegrate. But she couldn't contain it. Her stomach lurched and a tear fell out of her eyes. "Oh God," she cried, bring a hand up and sobbing into her palm.

But before Caroline was completely able to falling into the black pit of despair, she heard a click from behind her. Spinning around, she brought her hand down from her face and her eyes got wide as she looked at the man standing in the middle of her kitchen.

He had a truly concerned look on his face. "Oh. Who made Klaus' world cry?" Kol asked, frowning in sympathy. He had come through the glass door that led out onto the patio. The sun was shining through the glass door and eliminated his figure. He looked like a normal guy, not some jillion-year-old-vampire.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Caroline demanded, but her voice came out broken because of her sorrow. "You've never been inv—! When were you invited in?"

"Um… Oh yeah. You're Mother had wanted help with…" he waved his hand, trying to come up with a word, but not finding it, "stuff."

Caroline frowned at him. "What are you doing here now, then?" she interrogated.

"Well," he started, in the tone an adult would use when telling an exciting story to a child. He took a step forward and picked up the yogurt container Caroline had left out on the counter. "I was stalking the neighborhood and saw pretty boy storm out of your house just a moment ago. Thought I'd come in and check it out," he summarized. He then took a moment to truly look at her. He noticed her slightly swollen eyes, just before having an overwhelming meltdown. She was still in her pajamas and didn't seem to care as he watched her, which meant that she didn't have the energy to feel embarrassed after the emotions she's feeling now. He looked up to her eyes, in her eyes, and saw all-too-familiar emptiness in them; the emptiness that told him she had just been seriously hurt. At that second, seeing her emotional state, he lost all sassiness and became incredibly sympathetic. "What happened?" he asked, truly wanting to know.

Caroline crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. "Like you'd care," she murmured.

Kol blinked at her. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't care," he pointed out.

Caroline looked up at him hesitantly. She was actually really considering telling him; but then she realized that he was an Original, and she was supposed to hate them. She straightened her back out, and took in a shaky breath. "I don't want to tal—" She closed her eyes in irritation and tilted her head down again.

"Sounds like you do want to talk about it," he said, still sympathetically. "Pretend I'm one of your friends. Bonnie. Pretend I'm her," he encouraged.

Unfortunately, his encouragement didn't go very far. At the sound of Bonnie's name, Caroline felt herself losing it again. She frowned and tears filled her eyes once more. She sniffled and turned around from him. Kol quickly set down the container in his hands and walked over to her, feeling bad that he had obviously triggered something.

"Hey," he coaxed, stopping behind her and taking one of her arms. He gently turned her towards him and bent his knees to look at her downturned face. "Hey, shhh," he soothed. "What is it?"

Caroline didn't even try to fight him. If anything, she wanted him to hold her and be the shoulder for her to cry on. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, but she looked up a little, still trying her best to keep an organized face. "Tyler," she managed to get out, with a surprisingly somewhat strong voice. "He and Bonnie…" But then she couldn't finish her sentence, it hurt too much. She took in a breath and just held it, trying to master herself. When Kol slowly rubbed her arm she exhaled and looked up at him.

"He slept with her, didn't he?" Kol guessed, not happy with that. Boyfriends should be loyal. Caroline pursed her lips and nodded, a tear falling from her eye again. Kol stood up straight and pulled her into a hug, completely ignoring the fact that she didn't trust him at all.

And Caroline didn't resist. She uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, needing someone to cry to, completely ignoring the fact that she didn't trust him at all. She just let herself fall into that black pit of despair without hesitation. She sobbed into his shoulder, and he stoked her back and hair, wanting to help her in any way he would without crossing the line of being 'good'.

After five minutes or so, Kol started to pull back, just enough to look at her face. "All better?" he asked.

Caroline had tears stained to her cheeks. "What do you think?" she mumbled.

Kol nodded, understanding. He turned her around and started leading her into her own living room, sitting her on a couch and sitting beside her. "Do you want to talk?" he offered.

Caroline shook her head.

"Are you sure? I think this is more than just Tyler cheating," he observed. "No one cries when they hear this. I mean, sure, they might cry, but they're angrier than anything. So, what gives?" he checked.

Caroline frowned at him, not liking that he could have known that. She sighed. "I want to talk about it, I do. Just…talking about it with you is making me uncomfortable. I'm supposed to hate you. So, even being in the same room as you is weird for me, let alone when you're being nice!" she explained.

Kol nodded, again, understanding. "Do you want me to leave?" he offered.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the ground, thinking. She shook her head. "No. I don't want to be alone."

"Ok, I won't leave, but I'll leave you alone, alright?"

Caroline agreed with him silently, and even managed to give him a small smile, but soon fell back into feeling like crap about everything.

Kol was there for an hour, just sitting with her. They didn't speak, but both of them just...dwelled in one another's presence while thinking to themselves. In the end, Kol had left when he got a call from Rebekah. And that was it. Caroline was left to be by herself, with hatred, anger, and abandonment left from Tyler; and confusion, gratefulness, and relief for Kol.

.

"Nik!" Rebekah hollered, marching into the hybrid's house.

Klaus sighed, already annoyed with his complaining sister. He was in his room, perched upon the detailed head rest of his bed. He had a notebook on his lap, a drawing of a particular blonde sketched onto the page. "What?" he yelled back with an angry tone, not moving from his spot at all.

He heard the sound of loud heels clonking on the wood floor as his sister searched him out in the large house. "Where the bloody hell are you?" she sneered in a low growl as she slammed shut the door to another Klaus-less room.

Klaus returned to his drawing. "Look for me…" he mumbled, truly not caring.

She came storming up to his door and kicked it in, sending a rush of cold air rolling towards him as he looked up at her, irritated. "Yes?" he asked, letting the word just roll off his tongue.

Rebekah placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows, clearly in a ticked off mood. "We have a problem," she claimed sassily.

Klaus looked around the room, making it obvious he was waiting for more. "And?"

"It's happening again," she stated, entering the room. "The possessions. The vampire possessions that happened hundreds of years ago. When they all go crazy and start saying things they don't want to. I just had it. Elijah had it yesterday, and Kol just last night. It's all happening to us again."

Klaus frowned. "What are you talking about? You mean like the Jade Period?" he asked.

Rebekah nodded once. "Yes, exactly like that. I can't figure it out. We got rid of Jade, Klaus!" she proclaimed.

"Yes, Rebekah. I know that. Are you sure these happenings are exactly like last time?" he checked. If it was, it could explain what happened with Caroline.

Rebekah gave him a look that told him she _knew_ she was right. "Elijah started proclaiming his secret love to the human doppelganger. Yes, I'm sure."

"He loves her now?" Klaus sneered, as if it were the worst gossip he'd heard.

Rebekah sighed. "No. He _has_ loved her. That's what I mean!" she snapped, as if she knew everything. She started pacing a small space at the end of his bed. "Just like before, all the vampires, one by one, are announcing their deepest secrets to the world. And that was the first step last time, so this could continue like before."

Klaus raised one of his palms upward, showing his confusion. "So why are you telling me this?"

Rebekah stopped pacing. "Well I figured you'd want to know about it," she said bluntly. "That, and you and Elijah were the ones to stop it last time before Jade took completely over. So, I figured you'd be able to—"

"How am I supposed to do that?" he demanded, cutting her off. "I had to kill him last time. Are you telling me to kill him again?" he said sassily.

Rebekah glared at him. She crossed her arms over her chest. "What if he isn't dead?" she tried him.

Klaus laughed. "I drove a stake through his heart. The man's dead," he assured her. Rebekah stared at him, upset that he wouldn't even consider the thought. "So, whatever this is, it's not Jade," he observed, going back to his drawing. "It's probably some lunatic that got their hands on the same spell and are trying to have history repeat itself."

"Well if that is the case then we're all in danger! So get off your arse and do something!" she scolded.

Klaus looked up, annoyed, and sighed. "It's not going to be that difficult now. People these days are morons. Just find the bastard and stake him," he looked down again, "easy as that."

Rebekah growled and turned to leave. "You were absolutely no help!" she informed him, then stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

As soon as she was gone, Klaus stood up from his bed, and went to his dresser. He picked up his phone that was on top of it and dialed Elijah's number. He waited for the ringing to stop, but didn't wait for Elijah to finish his one "Yes?" before speaking. "Is Jade back?" he demanded.

He heard Elijah sigh. "Perhaps. It looks that way," he admitted.

"How is that possible?" Klaus snarled, not happy with even the thought of Jade on his earth.

"I don't know. There is a possibility that because Jade was the first human we turned into a vampire, that he is different in a way," Elijah said thoughtfully.

"Different in what way?"

"Well staking him in the heart obviously didn't work. It may be that he needs to be killed a certain way."

Klaus sneered. "How do we figure it out?" he snarled.

"As soon as I have that knowledge, you shall be the first to know."

Klaus abruptly hung up, not wanting to speak with anyone. If Jade was back…he was up for competition, again.


	5. The Sixth Original

Ok, really long chapter, hope it makes up for the three weeks I didn't post! Thank you to the people that yelled at me to get to it! haha! This is turning into more of a drama fic than a comedy...oh well. My new comedy is How We Roll. Check it out.

Alright, here you go!

* * *

Caroline growled in annoyance as she was once again taken to Bonnie's answering machine on her phone. "Bonnie, trust me, ignoring my calls will just prompt me to find you and talk to you in person," she threatened Bonnie's phone. "And I know neither of us want that…"

She clicked the end button and shoved her phone back into her pocket. She looked around to remember what she was doing. She was in the middle of a small store, in the baking utensil's isle. "Oh yeah," she mumbled aloud. "Wisps…" she reminded herself.

She started scanning the shelves, looking for the cheapest wisp she could find. In the midst of her browsing the items, she didn't notice the sound of approaching footsteps until they stopped beside her.

Caroline looked up and took a few moments to realize who she was looking at.

"Well, if it isn't Carrie," the black haired man addressed, smirking like he was joking around.

Caroline smirked at him and turned her body to face him. "Not quite," she flirted. "Try Caroline."

Jay frowned and put his hands on his hips, pushing the sides of his black jacket out of the way, revealing a loose, grey V-neck t-shirt underneath. "No," he frowned, "that's not it…"

Caroline raised her eyebrows in an exaggerated 'oh-you-must-be-right' face. "You're rig—" Great, she wanted to joke around, and couldn't because it was a lie… "What was I thinking?" she chuckled.

"That I was such a sexy man you had to rename yourself with a beautiful name such as Caroline," he answered her rhetorical question.

Caroline smirked, obviously being flirty. "Cocky much?"

He shook his head. "No, just honest."

Caroline smiled. The man could joke, good to know. She turned back to the shelves muttering, "Whatever," with a smile on her face. Then she frowned. "What are you doing here?" she asked bluntly, considering the fact that they were in the middle of a small store, and there's only so much he could be doing there.

"Oh, you know," Jay started with a shrug, "Taming lions," he retorted sarcastically.

She closed her eyes and chuckled, not believing she handed him that easy zinger. "Alright, I'll give you that one," she dismissed, looking back to him. "I take it you're a joker," she mused, crossing her arms.

"Well," he hissed, shrugging and making a face that looked like he was trying to come up with a better term. "I'd see it as…pointing out dumb mistakes in a humorous way," he changed.

"Are you calling me dumb?"

Jay smiled and shook his head. "I most certainly am not, I assure you. You're nothing of the kind," he fancied.

"Really? How can you be so sure?" she quizzed, truly liking being flattered.

Jay started pacing around her. "I've seen a lot of lovely women in my time. Week, strong, uncertain, independent, beautiful, shy, _dumb_," he smiled. "But you're the kind of woman that I love."

Caroline raised her eyebrows at him in shock. She choked out a laugh. Jay turned his head to the side and chuckled. "I mean, I love women like you, who are true, and know what they want in life."

Caroline shook her head in thought, the smile fading from her face. "Well, I wouldn't be completely sold on that…" Jay gave her an 'explain further' look. "My life had a large turn of events a while ago. I w…" she looked down.

Truth was she hated talking about being a vampire. Because what she's really saying is, "I died. Now I'm just a walking corpse. How was your day?" She hated being a vampire. She wanted to look alive and bouncy, fun to be around, like Jay. He was possibly the happiest person she'd seen for a while. Mainly because everyone else she runs into has something supernatural going on in their life.

"Something happened that made me change my lifestyle rather suddenly," she explained, but not truly explaining everything.

Jay just nodded at her, like he understood everything perfectly. "You mean when you became a vampire," he finished, not asking, stating.

Caroline frowned at him. "What?" she hissed. She'd been wrong. He knew about all of that stuff, but yet he was so calm about it all. How? Maybe he was one and he'd just learned to cope? But that would be just one vampire out of all existence that could pull that off…maybe Elijah. But the rest of them had this crazed look about them. Not him, though… "How do you know about…?"

She trailed off as her thoughts were taken away from completing her sentence. Jay smirked, and she saw little blue veins start crawling down from his now red eyes. "You're a vampire," she concluded with a tone that made it sound like she was upset she hadn't guessed sooner. Jay winked at her and started returning to his human face. "How did you know I was one?" she questioned.

Jay frowned and looked her up and down, inhaling a hiss as he thought. He looked like he was a fashion police about to give her a ticket. "It's written all over you. You're like a…" he hesitated forming words and looked back up to her face, "trapped puppy in an overgrown doll house screaming 'Vampire!' at anyone that walks by," he finished.

Caroline frowned, but couldn't help start smiling at his ridiculous explanation. "In what universe does that make any sense?" she mused.

Jay laughed and shook his head. Caroline chuckled along with him. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I was just trying to think fast."

Caroline laughed at his failed attempt. "Well, that sucked," she said bluntly.

Jay nodded. "Hence the laughing," he said obviously.

Caroline's laughter faded and she ended up just smiling at him. His eyes looking so intense, and his pose making him look completely relaxed, much unlike her. While staring at him, she realized he looked a bit older than her. His eyes looked aged.

She was just about to ask him about his age and vampire experience, but her phone cut her short by starting to vibrate in her pocket. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, looking and seeing who was calling her. "Bonnie," she read aloud with a tone that said, "Big shock."

She looked apologetically at Jay. "I'm sorry, I have to ta—" That was a lie; she didn't _have_ to take the call. But, luckily, Jay filled in the awkward space before it was even noticeable that she had ended her sentence abruptly.

He held his hand out in a 'stop' manner. "Please," he waved off. "Take your time," he insisted, smiling and showing off his perfectly white teeth.

Caroline watched him admiringly. "Thanks," she mumbled, clicking the green button on her phone and turning away from him to stare at the shelves once more. She brought the phone up to her ear. "_Now_ you call?"

"Do you _want_ me to hang up?" Bonnie snapped back.

"No. I want you to take this curse off of me!" Caroline corrected. "And to stop sleeping with my boyfriend!"

At this, Jay raised his eyebrows and pulled his head back, smirking. He was suddenly reminded how stupid and pitiful teenage drama was. He chuckled. Luckily, Caroline didn't notice.

Caroline could almost hear Bonnie smirk. "Oh, he talked to you about that, did he? He said he'd keep it a secret so we could continue doing it behind your back," her voice purred out of the phone.

Caroline growled. "Take this curse off me, right now," she demanded.

"No. Stop lying, and there won't be a problem," Bonnie replied in a sassy voice.

Caroline sneered at Bonnie. "Just keep in mind that this won't end well, Bennet," she hissed, then quickly hung up the phone. But after she shoved the phone into her pocket, she thought about what she had said. _'This won't end well.'_ That was pretty much a promise that things were heading downhill.

She sighed and turned back to Jay, but he wasn't there anymore. She slumped her posture, disappointed that he was no longer there. But she didn't have time to piss and moan, for she got another call.

She looked down at her phone. "Really? I don't get any calls, then the minute I don't want to be disturbed, everyo—" Caroline growled at her incapability to _speak_ and pulled her phone out quickly.

She didn't even check the caller ID, just pressed 'talk' and smashed the phone over her hair and over her ear. "Hello?" she demanded.

"Carolly!" a male voice exclaimed. "Hey, I called you to warn you about something," it announced.

"Who is this?" she demanded in a complaining voice.

The other line was silent for a few seconds. "Wow. You know, I figured after our nice talk and heart-to-heart this morning that you'd at least recognize my _voice_," it said in an 'offended' way.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "How did you get my number?"

"Nik," Kol replied in a perky tone, like it was a big joke. His voice sounded like a teenager's over the static of the phone. It made Caroline want to smile and reminisce about calling guys late at night and just talking with them, but she didn't have time for that right now. But, overall, it was quite refreshing, just hearing his voice. It was so relaxing. "He's pretty careless when it comes to his phone. But! I called you to warn you that weird things are going around town, so be prepared."

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean? What 'weird things'?"

"Nik'll explain it to you. He's waiting for you now. Have fun!" he said in a sing-song-y way, obviously indicating something Caroline refused to think about. He then hung up and left Caroline standing, confused, in the middle of a store alone, looking at wisps.

.

Caroline was walking along the sidewalk, heading towards her house. She had her eyes on her phone, texting Kol with questions such as "Wat do u mean Klausll explain? Hes nowhere to b seen!"

Luckily, she was writing it, or she wouldn't have been able to finish the sentence. Had Caroline looked up, she would have seen Klaus open the door to her house and step inside. But Caroline hadn't looked up, not until she heard the creak of the door as it slowly shut behind him.

She frowned at her moving door and rushed up to her house, stopping when her hand was on the handle. She cautiously opened the door, being slow in case of what might be just inside the door. But there was nothing. Her hallway was empty. She took a few steps in and shut the door behind her, looking in every direction for show of an intruder. Everything was clear of anyone; that was, until she looked into the living room.

Caroline felt her heart jump as she saw Klaus standing in the middle of her living room, staring at her with wide eyes. Caroline took a deep, loud breath. "Klaus!" she yelled out of fright. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, taking a step away from the door and facing him. She pulled her purse down from her shoulder and held it in her hand.

"I'm in love with you," Klaus whispered. He had a dazed, uncertain, frightened look on his face.

Caroline dropped her head back. "Oh…God!" she groaned. "No, Klaus, you're n–," she tried to correct him, but he had been correct the first time. She slowly brought her head down to look at him. "You're in love with me?"

"I wouldn't make this up," he said.

"Klaus, that's ridiculous," Caroline insisted.

"Is it, though?" Klaus asked. He suddenly moved and was standing in front of Caroline, looking down into her eyes. "You're all I think about. You're all I want to see when I wake up in the morning." He slowly brought his hands up and held her face lightly in his fingers, like she would shatter if he wasn't too careful. "You've become my reason for living," he whispered.

Caroline placed her hand on his chest. She was going to pull away from him, keep him at bay with her hand as she resisted and accused him of being crazy, but the second her hand made contact with his body, he spoke in a pained voice. "Please don't. Don't push me away. Not now, when I'm so vulnerable…" he pleaded.

Caroline stared up at him, not knowing what to do, or think. "Klaus…" Caroline started.

"Shh," Klaus hushed, looking down to her lips. His fingers flexed, but he didn't put any pressure into them. His fingertips were like ghosts against Caroline's skin. He started leaning down, dipping his head to come closer to hers.

Caroline didn't register what was going on until Klaus' lips barely grazed hers. She pulled her head back from his hands and face and held his wrists. "Klaus, no, please," she said in a serious tone. "I don't know what's wrong with you–"

"Everything is wrong with me," he replied, a spark of anger in his voice, a spark Caroline knew would easily burst into flame.

Caroline just stared at him, afraid to do anything in case she set him off. He wasn't being himself, who knows what he would do. They locked eyes, and she could see the emptiness inside of his. But even in the emptiness, there was a flicker of love shining just for her. She felt her heart start racing, and knew this wasn't going to end 'correctly.'

Caroline was going to question him again, but her thoughts hit a dead end as Klaus' eyes seemed to suddenly clear. He looked around, registering where he was and what he had just been talking about. He looked back to Caroline's eyes and moaned in what sounded like regret.

"Oh, Caroline. I'm so sorry," he apologized. "Truly. Please forgive me of this entire scene. Thi…"

Caroline saw his lips keep going, but she couldn't focus on what he was saying. Her head started spinning, and she had to closer her eyes to keep from falling over. Her throat felt rusty, and she couldn't breathe. She made a choking sound, starting to lean down to put her hands on her knees. Klaus finally stopped talking and frowned at her. "Caroline?"

Caroline stuck her arm out and leaned with it, falling until she found the wall she had been reaching out for. She broke down onto her knees and hunched her shoulders forward, trying to stretch out the pain that was gathering in her chest. Klaus, knowing what was happening, knelt down on the floor next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He pushed it up, knowing that the best thing she could do right now was not focus on the pain.

"Caroline," he addressed. "Caroline, look at me." He wasn't requesting, he was instructing, just as a doctor would. Caroline did as he said, and Klaus recognized the gray mist that was swimming in her pupils. His jaw ticked in annoyance with Jade. He hated how he could do this, and was especially upset that he was doing it to Caroline.

Caroline's heart started pounding. She looked straight into Klaus' eyes, not able to look anywhere else.

The dizziness and chest pain and headache all suddenly vanished, and Caroline's heart started to slow. That was, until she realized how close Klaus was to her, and it picked right back up. "Klaus, I ne–"

Klaus put his hand over her mouth. "Don't speak. Keep quiet," he instructed.

Caroline pulled her face from his hand and started to speak again, determined to tell him what was on her mind. But Klaus hushed her before any sound left her lips. "Caroline, you're about to tell me one of your deepest secrets, and I don't want you to," he explained. That shut her up.

"What? Why wouldn–" she began again.

"Please!" Caroline stopped talking. This was serious, whatever was happening. "I don't deserve to hear what you have to say," he said in a much lower voice.

Caroline didn't argue this time. She stopped talking. She started to feel a brand new kind of appreciation for Klaus. She had no idea what was happening, but he was keeping it from going too far. But that was the problem. What she wanted to tell him was something concerning him. She wanted to tell him about Tyler, how mad she was at him. And how now that she was fed up with Tyler's acts, she was realizing what a noble, reliable man he was. And she wanted that.

But the second, the _second_ she opened her mouth to speak, Klaus took her face in both hands and looked into her eyes. "Do not tell me anything until the possession leaves you," he compelled.

Caroline felt something take over her emotions: disappointment. For some reason, possibly the possessions, she had really truly wanted Klaus to know everything. But now he wouldn't. Once the possessions left, Caroline knew she wouldn't have the courage to tell him, or even admit the feelings to herself.

So that was it. She didn't tell him, he didn't hear it. Who knows when he would. They both just stayed on the ground, watching one another's every move. Almost immediately after Caroline sighed and shook away the confusion and oddness, Klaus stood her up and said another hushed apology before leaving her. She hadn't wanted him to leave, but she knew he had to. Mainly because what she had almost told him was something brand new to her, and she seriously needed to take control of her thoughts. But also because Klaus had just told her he loved her, and that was new to _both_ of them.

.

Damon shut the front door to his house and walked to the large living room where everyone was gathered. "Alright, what are we here about?" he demanded, being one of the only ones not to experience it yet.

All of the Original siblings, Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, and Elena were gathered into the room. Over the situations of all of the vampires becoming "possessed", they all had met to discuss this. Elijah and Stefan had basically set the whole thing up. Damon wasn't pleased with the lot of them teaming up, and neither were the other Originals. But Elijah had a pretty good hunch he knew what was going on, and it wasn't good.

Elijah gave all of them a glance, and then explained. "All of you, with the exception of Bonnie, Elena, and Damon, have experienced the recent 'possessions' happening to all of the vampires." At this statement, Caroline hesitantly glanced up at Klaus, only to find he had done the same seconds ago, and they locked eyes for a brief moment before she felt her cheeks becoming hot and turned away. Kol had seen, and frowned at the two. Elijah continued, "And if I am correct, then this sort of thing has happened before, and history may be repeating itself."

"What's happened before?" Stefan asked, shifting in the chair he was sitting in. "These same 'possessing's?'" he checked.

Finn nodded. "Yes," he said in his low, serious tone. "In the twelfth century, the very same situation took place. 'Possessions', they were happening to every vampire in the town. But we solved that problem," he reminded, turning to Elijah.

Elijah nodded. "I am very aware of that," he said back to Finn. "But either someone else has managed to find a witch and play the same actions as him; or he's come back," Elijah said to his siblings.

Damon frowned. "Who's –"

"We got rid of him," Rebekah retorted quickly, making sure Elijah hadn't forgotten.

"Yes, thank you, Bekah," Kol snapped sarcastically. "We weren't quite sure."

Rebekah glared at him. "Don't give me that!" She motioned to Elijah. "He's the one suggesting that Jade's back!"

Finn put his hand on Rebekah's shoulder, calming her. "And he's right," he sided with Elijah. "We aren't sure how to kill him. We may have done it wrong the first time; it is possible he could have come back."

Stefan was watching them with his brow furrowed. "Who could ha—"

Klaus chuckled. "He was at the bottom of the ocean, Finn. How do you suppose he could have just suddenly 'come back'?" he speculated like Finn was an idiot, and completely ignored Stefan.

Elijah had a stern look on. "Must I remind you that vampires have no need to _breathe_? He very well could have swum to land after breaking the curse we placed on him."

"Curse?" Bonnie asked, seeing as she was the 'expert' in that sort of thing. Caroline rolled her eyes at Bonnie.

Kol crossed his arms and paid no attention to the witch. "Yeah, only one problem," he said in an annoyed way, "There's no way _to_ break the curse. We made sure of that."

Elijah looked at Rebekah, as did Finn. Finn narrowed his eyes at Rebekah. "No we didn't, Rebekah did," he stated bluntly.

Rebekah raised her eyebrows at her two eldest brothers in a trying way. "You think I didn't make sure?" she proposed in an offended way.

Elijah sighed, only just now thinking that she may not have. "Well, you were in love with him…"

Rebekah's mouth fell open in anger at him for even suggesting that. "I checked, Elijah! I'm not going to let my emotions get in the way of our lives!" she fumed.

Kol snorted and looked off to the side and commented, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Caroline sighed in annoyance. "Would someone please tell us what's going on?" she requested, beginning to become bored with listening to the Original's tales of 'him'.

"Shut up, Kol," Rebekah hissed, still not giving any acknowledge to the others in the room.

"Rebekah," Elijah growled, warningly.

Klaus chuckled again. "He has a point, Rebekah. It wouldn't be something new for you…"

Finn straightened his back. "Alright, everyone needs to calm down," he tried.

But, Rebekah wasn't having any of this. "Like you have room to talk, Nik," she snapped at Klaus. "You almost ruined our previous plans by falling in love with this skanky blonde," she sneered, nodding towards Caroline.

Caroline frowned and stood up from the table she'd been leaning on. "Hey! Don't wrap me into this!"

Elijah took a deep breath. "Rebekah, please, stop."

Rebekah turned around to face her most mature brother and glared at him. "Don't you dare 'stop' me. You all just accused me of letting my emotions get in the way, when all of you have done the same thing! Finn with Sage," she said, pointing at him accusingly. She then turned to Elijah. "You with Katherine." Damon and Stefan both became tense, just then learning that Elijah and Katherine had been a 'thing' in the past. "And Kol," she turned to face him, "with every maiden in the kingdom," she smirked at him smugly.

Kol stood up defensively. "Well at least I wasn't falling for the person trying to kill me!" Kol retorted, which fired Rebekah up further and sent the two of them into a babbling fit, trying to outtalk one another.

"Hold on," Damon jumped in, "when were you and Katherine together?" he questioned Elijah, to which Elijah ignored. Stefan came up behind Damon and started telling him that he probably shouldn't start in on Katherine right then.

Caroline was staring at Klaus, just then realizing that Rebekah had said he loved her. But Klaus was staring at Elena, who seemed to be overwhelmed at the moment.

Bonnie was frowning at all of them as they all started speaking and arguing with one another. It was enough noise to make someone think it was an entire school of teenagers, yelling and fighting, and talking to each other. It sounded something like…

"—but sleeping with the enemy, that's perfectly fine in your world?"

"He wasn't the enemy then, Kol! If you were to actually use your head—"

"You're the one not using your hea—!"

"—then maybe you could remember the time when he used to be one of your closest friends!"

"No, Stefan, are you even listening? Elijah! He was with Katherine at one point!"

"And that point is over, now how about we don't piss off the strongest Original?"

"Katherine!"

"Get over her, Damon! She's nothing to you anymore!"

"That doesn't change the fact that all along, we had Cover Girl here's left overs!"

And then Elena figured she'd better jump in, as if she could make it any better.

"Damon," she sighed, "Cover Girl is makeup."

Both of the Salvatore's turned towards her.

"Elena, please don't make him even mor—"

"Did you seriously just correct me in the names of—"

"Damon, calm down. She's a girl - of course she's going to correct you."

But then Rebekah and Kol were still screaming at one another, so that was fun to listen to….

"If you dare try to tell me you know about love, Kol, I swear, I'll rip out your eyes an—"

"Because you'd have the expert's full knowledge on the subject? Mrs. I Think I'll Fall for the Worst Men and When They Treat Me like Crap I'll Act like I was Surpri'—"

"-Just stop it! All my life you've been drumming down on me!"

"Are you seriously going to start that? That is the dumbest conversation on earth!"

"How is it dumb? It's completely true! You've made my life hell!"

"Oh blah, blah, blah! Your life sucks, get over it! I'm tired of you complaining!"

"-They're freaking cosmetics, Elena. Do you expect me to be a pro at them?"

Elijah shook his head. He'd had it. "_That's_ _enough_!" That was it. That's all he said, and the room fell silent. He hadn't even raised his voice very high. But when he became angry, they knew they were going nowhere but downhill. "You're all acting as children!" he scolded.

Elijah sighed and straightened his back out. He turned towards all of his non-relatives in the room and started finally explaining what they had been talking about.

"The 'he' we constantly mention is a man named Jade Hark. He was our oldest friend," he started. Finn relaxed onto the back of the couch, preparing himself for the well-known story. Kol watched Rebekah, and Rebekah glared back. But Klaus, he watched Caroline, as Caroline listened to Elijah intently, needing to finally hear this. "When our mother turned us into vampires, Hark was the first human we turned into a vampire. I'm not sure which one of us turned him," he admitted, staring at his siblings, "but it was not me."

"That doesn't matter now, Elijah," Kol jumped in, looking away from his sister and calming himself. "Right now they need to know the basics."

Elijah nodded, agreeing with his brother, then continued. "Everything was fine for the next couple centuries, he continued to run with us, as another brother to us."

"To us…" Klaus mumbled, referring to the males in the family, seeing as Rebekah had had an affair with Hark, and that was hardly 'brotherly.'

Elijah quickly talked over Klaus. "But soon after, he became dark. Incredibly dark. He found a spell that could control vampires. He had the ability to control them one at a time, at first. But the more vampires he used it on, the stronger his streak got, and he was soon able to control hundreds of vampires at once."

"He would possess them into telling their secrets. Usually the secret that came out first had to do with love," Finn jumped in, not liking how long it was taking Elijah. "And that's what is happening again." He made a point to look at Elijah.

"But before we get to that," Elijah started, returning Finn's look, "you should know what Jade was planning. He intended to start an army with the vampire's he possessed. And he came close. But luckily, Niklaus and I killed him before he had the chance."

"But he's back," Rebekah stated simply. She had her arms crossed and was looking at the floor, appearing to be bored with the subject.

Bonnie frowned. "I thought you just said you killed him."

"We did," Klaus said sternly. "He's back."

"How do you know that for sure?" Stefan asked. "Have you seen him?"

Kol sighed. "We don't need to see him to know his acts." He looked straight at Stefan with an irritated look on his face. Stefan was testing his intelligence. "He was our brother for two hundred years; I think we're going to know when he's here."

"Ok," Caroline started, trying to talk over everyone. "So this guy was your friend, you turned him into a vampire. You guys were cool for two centuries and then he became bad. He started forming an army and you guys killed him before he completed it. Right?" she checked.

Klaus nodded. "Correct."

"If you killed him then why did you put a curse on him and drop him in the ocean?" Bonnie inspected.

Finn licked his lip, remembering correctly. "When we killed him he didn't stay dead."

Elijah continued for him. "We took the stake from his chest and he started coming back to life. This was before we knew anything about staking an Original; so, of course, we placed it back and left it there."

"We got a witch to put a binding spell on him," Kol said. "And before we dumped him in the ocean, we had _Bekah_ check to make sure the curse was working." He looked over at her accusingly.

"Kol," she started, "I swear to God, I will rip your neck out!" she threatened.

"So now this Jade guy is back," Damon stated, showing he was following. "What do we do?" he asked the most obvious question.

Klaus shrugged. "Find him, kill him, burn him, move on with our silly little lives," he listed off like it was a simple hat trick.

"How do we kill him?" Bonnie asked. "You just said that staking him didn't work. And clearly neither did the spell…"

Elijah inhaled, indicating he was about to speak and anyone that had also been about to make noise should shut up now. "This is a theory…but Jade was dead for as long as we had the wooden stake in his heart. Now, as you all know, the wooden stake doesn't kill us. The dagger does. So, perhaps he is just one step down from us. The regular stake for him is like the dagger is to us. And the dagger to him is like the White Oak stake to us. It would kill him once and for all," Elijah hypothesized.

"That surprisingly makes sense…" Finn commented, crossing his arms and frowning, thinking about it.

"Unfortunately…" Elijah continued. "If a vampire stakes one of its kind with the dagger, both die."

Klaus held his hand out towards Elena and Bonnie. "We have two non-vampires right here," he pointed out.

"You really wish to risk their lives?"

Kol shrugged. "I'm cool with it."

Bonnie scoffed. "Thanks, Kol."

"Oh don't pretend to be offended. Everyone knows I hate you all."

Caroline glared at Kol. "I vote Kol stakes him."

Kol gave a highly dramatic gasp. "Carolly! I'm offended!" he said in a hurt tone.

"Shut up, Kol," Klaus snapped, looking back to Elijah.

Elena shook her head. "I have a question. What exactly does Jade do to form the army?"

"He forces out our secrets one by one until we feel we are not ourselves anymore," Elijah answered, staring straight at Elena. "Feeling this way for a vampire will force them to do unspeakable things. So before they do anything too tragic, Jade finds them."

"And?" Damon asked, waiting to hear what Jade did.

"We don't know," Rebekah answered. "We were never the ones he came to."

"But we assume he compels them to join him," Kol added.

"He can compel?" Bonnie asked.

"You Originals are starting to become less and less impressive…" mumbled Damon.

"We don't know if he can compel or not," Klaus sighed, annoyed with everyone in the room. He was also annoyed with himself. Explaining all of this just pointed out how little they knew about Jade.

"But if he can't, then he's incredibly persuasive," said Elijah, sounding just as irritated as Klaus felt.

"Alright," Stefan said, standing up straight. "I've got what I need to know. Who do we look for?"

Rebekah sighed, putting on a dazed look. "Tall, smoking hot, black hair, sexy as all-get-out."

Kol raised his eyebrows and inhaled. "You would know…"

"Anything that would point him out from other guys?" Damon asked. "Cause, honey, you just described me."

"Gray eyes," Rebekah added.

"Again, that's me."

"You're not tall," Caroline said in a snappy voice. "So shut up."

"You're also not persuasive," Stefan added. "Last time I checked, Elena's still mine."

Damon sneered at his brother. But Elena and Elijah made a quick eye contact, one no one in the room noticed, except for Caroline.

Klaus stood up off of the table he had been leaning on and walked to the edge of the room while saying, "Alright, you all know what to look for. Thank you for having us so we could remind ourselves just how much we hate you all."

Kol smirked and started to follow his brother. "Except for you, Caroline," he said, winking at her. As he passed her, he whispered. "We actually like you. But don't tell the others," he turned to look at all the non-Mikaelsons in the room, "they might get jealous."

"Correction: I don't like her," said Rebekah loudly so everyone heard her.

"Well that's because she's prettier than you, Bekah."

Rebekah smacked him in the back of the head as they reached the door to the house and began walking out. They could still hear Rebekah yelling at Kol by the time Elijah and Finn had walked out as well.

"Ok," said Caroline. She looked around at the remaining four people in the room. "I've had enough, too. Bye, Elena." She looked at Damon and Stefan and nodded at them in 'farewell.' She deliberately avoided looking at Bonnie on her way out.

As she closed the door behind her, she let out a deep breath. She hated when people take forever to explain something as small as that. But of course…that wasn't exactly small….

Caroline started walking down the sidewalk, putting her hands in her pockets and looked up at the stars. She hadn't realized how late it was until she'd stepped outside. She was calming herself down from the busy day, when someone appeared right by her side, rattling her cage once more.


	6. Everything She Wanted and More

Oh mi GOD! This took me FOREVER! I'm so sorry! I hate myself! Please dont hate me too much...

* * *

"What was that?"

Caroline jumped in her place and turned to Kol, releasing her breath. "Kol," she addressed. "What do you want?"

"What was that?" he repeated, changing the way he said it.

Caroline frowned at him. "What was what?"

"In there, you and Nik shared a look," he explained.

Caroline looked away from him at the path in front of her. "Yeah, people tend to make eye contact a lot," she replied, avoiding the actual answer.

Kol shook his head and pointed back at the house. "No," he dragged. "That wasn't any old look. That look said you guys did something. Something _you're_ not proud of," he accused, pointing to her instead.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "Nothing happ –" her words died out in her throat. She groaned in annoyance as Kol started smiling at her.

"You guys did something!" he exclaimed, even though he had known before. "What? Come on, spill," he instructed, putting his hand away into his pocket.

Caroline shook her head. "I'm not telling y–" she tried, but again, the words stopped.

Kol raised his eyebrows. "Oh," he said in a realizing voice. "Looks like you will be telling me." He smirked at her and waited.

Caroline pursed her lips at him. She held his eye contact for a while, but then looked ahead of her and shook her head. "Nope," she concluded. "No," she said again, starting to walk down the sidewalk again.

"Oh come on," Kol pleaded, following her. "What happened? Did you kiss? Hmm?" Caroline shook her head, and he surprisingly believed her unspoken answer. "Did he…paint you a…closet?" he asked, having trouble coming up with words that made sense.

Caroline frowned and looked at Kol like he was an idiot. "A closet? 'Did he paint me a closet'?" she repeated. "You're cra– Dammit!" she growled, not being able to finish the insult. She turned and carried on walking.

"Did he confess something?" he tried.

Caroline bit the inside of her cheek. "Yes," she mumbled.

She could practically hear his smirk of pride for having gotten a clue. "What did he confess?"

"Nothing that concerns you," she retorted, feeling relieved when she saw her house at the end of the block. "I don't see why you care so much, it's not like what happened is going to affect yo– …What? How does that affect him?" she hissed at nothing. Well, at Bonnie, I guess.

"Hmm, that's a tough one. How about you tell me and we can problem solve together!" he said in a fake enthusiastic voice.

Caroline growled. He wasn't going to let up. "Fine, Kol. He said he loved me, happy?" she demanded.

Kol scoffed. "That's it? He just said he loved you?" he mumbled like that was the most boring gossip he'd ever heard.

"That was the gist of it all," she said, turning the sidewalk corner to walk up her driveway, Kol continuing to follow in her steps. "And what do you mean 'That's it'? That's a pretty big IT."

Kol ignored her last question. "So, how does that affect me?" he asked, even though he had said he would help answer it.

"I don't know! Ask Bonnie, she's the one that did this," Caroline retorted angrily.

Kol stepped in front of Caroline, reaching for the door handle. "Well, start talking. Whatever you say is the truth, so play with your words." He opened the door and waited for Caroline to step in before walking in himself and shutting the door.

Caroline took off her coat and turned to Kol, messing with the collar of her jacket. "What do you want?" she asked in a tired voice.

Kol put his hands in his pockets. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You're talking to me," she stated.

Kol chuckled. "Very good observation," he complimented.

"Why?" she finished. "A few days ago, I hated you."

Kol raised his eyebrows. "You don't anymore?"

Caroline thought about her answer for a few seconds. "No. I don't. I don't like you, but I no longer hate you…"

Kol held his hand out to the living room. "Shall we sit for this?"

Caroline frowned. "For what?" she asked.

Kol started unbuttoning his own coat, walking around her and towards the couch. "Well, I have explaining to do, do I not?"

Caroline breathed through her slight annoyance with him and followed him towards the living room. "Yes. Now start," she instructed, folding her jacket over the back of one of the chairs and sitting down on the arm rest of the couch, pulling her feet up to rest on the cushion. Kol sat at her feet, not caring about being too close.

"Alright, Carolly," he sighed, getting comfortable and propping both of his elbows up on the back of the couch. "I'm talking to you because I want to be friends," he confessed.

Caroline laughed. "What?" she asked, stilling chuckling.

"Klaus plans on being with you, and if you're going to be part of the family then I–"

"Whoa!" Caroline stopped him. "What the hell are you on?" she asked, getting a blank look from Kol that said 'that hurt.' "I am _not_ part of your family," she made sure he was aware.

"Yet," Kol corrected.

Caroline stared at him wide eyed. "No!" she yelled. "What the hell are you implying?" she demanded.

Kol turned himself around on the couch and rested his head on the armrest Caroline wasn't sitting on. He folded his feet over hers and his hands behind his back, all while saying, "I'm implying that you and Klaus are going to get together and live happily ever after. And because you're going to be together, you will become the first wife of the Vampire-Generation of Mikaelson's," he summed up.

Caroline continued to stare at him, not believing he could be crazy enough to say that. She slowly started shaking her head, looking like a stunned bobble-head.

Kol shrugged. "Tell me I'm wrong," he insisted.

Caroline leaned over her knees, getting a little more 'in his face.' "You're…" she stopped in her sentence. She didn't want to finish it. If he was right (which she knew he wasn't) she didn't want to know. So instead she pulled out her phone and opened up a new text. She typed the words 'You're wrong' into the blank page and tossed it to Kol, which he caught and stared at her as he turned the screen towards his face.

He took a single second to read it, then gave her a sarcastic 'really?' look. "You really think I don't know how a Truth spell works?"

Caroline was getting mad. "Kol, shut up!" she demanded. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath.

Kol stared at her, fascinated by her actions. He crossed his arms and observed as she calmed herself.

Caroline took a deep breath. "Klaus and I, will not be toge–"

Kol raised his eyebrows as she couldn't finish the lie. Caroline kept her eyes closed, but her face clearly said she was heading for some kind of emotional rollercoaster. "Whoa," Kol said in hopes of calming her. "Do not start crying. We don't need another crying/bonding/silence thing," he reminisced, sitting up again.

Caroline shook her head and stood up from the couch. Her hands ran through her hair. "I can't take this right now. I want to know what's going to happen. Because it's most likely going to be bazar. Like, we'll fall in love within the year." She was pacing now, her emotions going haywire. She was chuckling one second, then biting her nails the next. "Within the year, fantastic. Within a wee– ok, more than a week. Good. But knowing the craziness of my life, it's gonna be eight da– " she laughed. "Ok, more than just eight days, good."

Kol lay back down as he watched her carefully. As she rambled on, he thought of something. He looked down at the phone she had tossed at him and raised an eyebrow.

"So, what then? Like, this month? Yes, the end of this month until we're in love," she discovered. "Klaus and I…a month. By the first of the next month, we'll be in love. And today would be…" she looked up at the clock on the mantle of their fireplace. "The twentieth," she laughed like a crazy woman. "Oh, God. Within the next eleven days, I'm going to fall for him." She was truly panicking now. She rubbed her forehead, bit her lips, ran her hands through her hair, and stared at nothing. "Tyler and I are basically over, anyway. It isn't official, but we're not recovering anytime soon…So what's going to happen? Klaus is going to woo me. Typical… But in ten damn days? Best of luck to him…but he doesn't exactly need it. The date is set, it's going to happen. How? I'm not easy persuaded. He's gonna have to do something fairly impressive. What? He'll find Ja– Ok, no, he won't. He'll fight J– He'll do something to Jade. So Jade is involved with this somehow. Klaus will…he'll, like, be the hero." Caroline was no longer facing Kol, she had her face in her hands with her back to him, thinking. "Klaus will defeat Jade. He'll kill him," Caroline revealed.

Kol raised his eyebrows in surprise and interest. He still relaxed on the sofa, but his hand held the cellphone.

"Well," a scratchy voice came out of the phone. "At least there won't be any surprises."

Caroline whirled around and saw Kol was smiling proudly at her with the phone outstretched in his hand, waiting for her to snatch it away. She took Kol's hand and turned it so she could look at the screen. Klaus was on the other end. He had heard the entire thing. Caroline stared at Kol in disbelief at first, then her senses got the best of her and she snatched the phone from him, bringing it up to her ear as she rushed out of the room and out of the glass door in the kitchen. She stopped when she was finally on the patio and took a deep breath. She was well aware that Kol could hear everything that she said, and she didn't care. She just needed to be alone…with Klaus. "Klaus," she began, pacing, "I don't know most of what the hell is going to happen," she said determinedly. She decided to stop, seeing as she was getting lightheaded from freaking out, pulling at her hair, walking in circles, and trying to understand everything. She looked out over the railing of the deck and took a deep breath, gazing out at the silent trees. "But you need to know that right now, this exact moment…I hate you," she sneered.

Klaus didn't respond at first. He knew a speech was coming behind those three words, and he didn't dare try to interrupt her. This wasn't news to him. He knew how she felt about him; he just needed to wait for her to realize she was wrong.

"I hate every fiber of your being. The _thought_ of you disgusts me," she hissed, an incredible amount of emotion behind her words. "Yes, there are times that I have just a spark of feeling for you, but just six minutes ago, they were going _nowhere_!"

"Six minutes ago is gone now. Things have changed," he tried telling her, but she just shook her head.

"No. Nothing changed. Everything was set. It's been set my entire life. This was coming. And it is coming…" she trailed off into thought.

"So what's the problem, love?" he tried.

"The problem," she snarled, anger heating up inside of her, "is that you're the most disturbing man I have ever met. And right now, I should be with Tyl–" The lie cut off in her throat, yes, but Klaus spoke before her silence became noticeable.

"Tyler? The man that broke you down and tore your heart into bits. You'd rather be with him than a man that could give you the world?" he tested.

Caroline felt tears forming in her eyes out of anger, confusion, and realization. "Yes. I would. Because no matter what Tyler and I went through, I could always sleep well at night knowing he would never become a monster!" she hissed, a tear falling from her eye. "That is something I will _never_ be certain of with you." She tore the phone from her ear and slammed her thumb on the end button before just dropping her phone onto the wood below her feet.

Despise the strength she was feeling, and the hatred she was radiating, and the lividness of her mind, she couldn't control the hot tears from falling down her burning cheeks. She didn't let into the tears, just accepted them. She was shaking with anger, digging her fingernails into her palms. It wasn't fair. She didn't want to be with Klaus. She felt as if he had set her entire future up without her knowing. She hated Bonnie so much, it was making her sick.

Caroline heard footsteps approach the door she had slammed shut moments ago. The click of the door told her Kol was opening the door, probably intending to come out and "talk about what had just happened," as if he could make it any better.

"You did this," Caroline accused, glaring at a still tree that had done nothing.

"Yes," a deep voice replied, not the voice of Kol. Caroline spun around in surprise and backed up into the railing of the porch as her eyes landed on Jay, standing tall and bold in the doorway. "I did."

"How the hell did you get in my house?" Caroline demanded.

"I had help," he said simply, shrugging.

Caroline hastily brought her hand up and rubbed the tears from her face. Normally she would be embarrassed, but considering he shouldn't even know where she lived, she was able to put her embarrassment behind her.

"Why are you here?" she questioned, her cheeks still burning.

"I'm here to help you. You're a special case, Caroline," he said. There was a slight new accent to his voice. Like Elijah's – where it sounded English, but clearly American. "I only possessed you once, and even then, you were saved by Nik," he explained. He sounded disgusted, like he had been really mad with Klaus keeping her quiet during her possession.

Caroline frowned for a moment, then came to realization in seconds. "You're Jade," she concluded.

He chuckled. "That took you _way_ too long."

It had. Caroline mentally kicked herself for not realizing that right off the bat when Rebekah was describing him. And for not immediately catching the resemblance in names. Jay – Jade. God, _that_ was a stretch!

"So what then?" Caroline snapped. "You came here to recruit me?"

"Uh…" Jade looked around like she had said something obvious. "Duh?" Caroline began to scoff at him, but he continued over her negative noises. "But you don't know what I have to offer yet," he persuaded.

"Nothing I want to be a part of," Caroline retorted.

"You don't have to be a part of anything, love," he said, making her flinch because it reminded her of Klaus. "You just have to accept, and receive."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you talking about? Receive what?"

There was a giant smile upon Jade's face. "Anything you want," he answered vaguely. "Just ask, and I shall deliver."

"You can't give me anything I want," Caroline sneered, wishing there was a way he _could_.

Jade took a step out of the house and held his hand up, resting it against his torso, making it easier for him to make hand gestures. "Yes, darling, I can. Just believe me, and you could have the world." Caroline felt another pang. Klaus had told her only moments ago that he would give her the world, and here was his fifth brother, offering the same thing. "The world and more," Jade added.

"How could you possibly give me more?" Caroline sassed.

Jade watched her for a moment, giving her the look that let her know he was about to win the entire argument. "I bet you wish you could change your destiny. And your past." Caroline's attitude turned around at those simple sentences. "Change the way things happened. Rid the truth spell…stop Tyler from sleeping with your best friend…"

Caroline's mouth had opened very slightly. "You can do that?" she whispered.

Jade smirked. "Yes, yes I can."

Caroline stared at him for the longest time, thinking about what she could do with those kinds of options. But she shook her head, she couldn't do anything. Things happen for a reason. "No," she said, continuing to shake her head. She started walking towards him, heading for the house again. Jade stepped sideways, allowing her through. "No, I can't," she added as she passed him. She entered the kitchen and was met with the smell of fresh blood. She stopped in her tracks, just then realizing how hungry she was. "What did you do?" she asked, referring to the blood smell.

Jade came in right behind her. "Nothing much. Killed Kol, but that was about it."

Caroline spun around and stared up at Jade with wide eyes. "You killed him?" she demanded in a loud voice.

Jade frowned at her. "Relax," he dragged, stepping aside her and leading her into the living room. "I did it with plain wood. He's fine."

Caroline looked around Jade at the couch, which Kol was sitting on. He had his elbows up on the back of the couch and his head had fallen back, making him look like he had simply fallen asleep. "Why?" she whispered. If Jade had been able to kill Kol while _sneaking_ up on him, he had to be both fast and silent.

"Couldn't afford him seeing me, now could I?" Jade questioned. No, no he couldn't. He walked around the couch and stared down at his former friend. "He'll probably be up in…four minutes?" he estimated. "Plenty of time."

Caroline looked at Jade in fear as he peered down at the dead Original. "Time for what?" she asked carefully.

Jade smiled and looked from Kol's corpse to her face. "To make you one of my own."

Caroline faintly shook her head. "You ca–" she tried to tell him.

Jade chuckled. "Yeah, I can. Because that's what they all say: They're too strong to be persuaded by me. But I always win," he informed her.

"Is that why you ended up at the bottom of the ocean?" she questioned. She raised an eyebrow, trying him. "Because you were winning?"

The laughter seemed to just remain on his face. He wasn't affected at all by what she'd said. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "You're a feisty one!"

Caroline was intimidated. If there was ever a vampire that truly didn't have feelings, this was him. The Originals were said to not care about anything but themselves, but this man acted as if there was nothing he even noticed. He didn't react the way most people would to regular things. He played everything like it was a joke. And right now, he was playing her.

"But really though, Caroline," he said, forcing himself to stop smiling. "I can give you anything you want." He waved his hand around to indicate 'anything.'

Caroline crossed her arms uncomfortably under his gaze. "There's nothing I wan–"

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh really?" he checked in a trying tone.

Suddenly he reached down and tilted Kol's head to the side, revealing two puncture holes in his neck. "You drank from him?" Caroline asked in disgust. Never had she heard of drinking form an Original. She'd only done it once, and that was when Klaus was letting her. Other than that…that was a huge risk to take their blood.

"How else do you expect me to contain my power?" he asked.

Caroline looked from the alluring holes in Kol's neck to Jade's smirking face. "You get power?"

"From their blood, yes." Jade took one finger and wiped some of the blood off of Kol's neck. It was still warm and the smell was about to make Caroline go insane. Jade knew what he was doing as he walked back to Caroline and held his finger out for her, teasing her with the newly found blood.

Caroline shook her head. "No," she exhaled, getting excited as the incredibly hot man was within six inches of her with blood dripping from his finger.

"I dare you," he mumbled, reminding her of Klaus once more. He was definitively like all of the brothers. Elijah's originality, Kol's whit, Klaus' words, Finn's composure. But he was his own person in that he was taunting Caroline to give into him.

Caroline stared at the red liquid just waiting for her to take. Her heart raced, her teeth extended, and she could feel the tingling under her eyes of the now visible veins. "Take it," he urged her in a deep, taunting voice. Caroline didn't reply to him, she just watched the blood. She wanted it, but she hated it. She hated wanting it. And somehow, it was like Jade knew. "You don't want to," he concluded. "Because you hate yourself for needing it." He dropped his hand to his side and Caroline snapped out of the trance it had put on her.

"Yeah, so?" she asked in a faint voice. "I suppose you're going to tell me you can something about that, too."

Jade stared into her eyes, giving her the answer. At that look, Caroline's hopes about flew through the roof. "Oh mi God. You can," she whispered desperately.

Jade smirked. "Join me, Caroline. I can give you everything you want. All you would have to do is live in my headquarters, and help me."

"Live with you?" she checked.

"All my soldiers live there," he said, indicating there were more. "I own a mansion, Caroline. And I'm quite good at magic, so I can alter the house to anyone's liking without lifting a finger."

Caroline stared up at him, her mind racing with thoughts, truly considering. "What would I have to do?"

Jade inhaled, thinking. "I suppose they could be considered chores. I'll ask you to do something and you must do it. Simple as that." He took a step towards her. "Everything you want…and more, for a small price to pay." He could tell just by looking at her that she was having second thoughts about everything. He almost had her around his finger. One more step and she would be his. "Well, Caroline Forbes?" he asked, having to use her entire name. Caroline had so many ideas in her mind, and she couldn't focus on an answer. "What do you say?"

Caroline's mind suddenly stopped, and she knew the answer.

Klaus halted in his steps as he came to the porch of Caroline's house. Something wasn't right. He had come there to speak with her after she'd ranted on him over the phone. He couldn't let her stay so upset at him. He was there to fix things between them. But the smell of blood stopped him. It was fresh. But that wasn't the only smell. There was another. It was so familiar Klaus knew exactly what it was. Jade was there. But Klaus couldn't just burst inside of the house, just in case he needed to sneak up without Jade knowing. So, instead, he walked around the house to the kitchen door. Looking through the glass, he saw Jade standing before Caroline, his hand over her eyes. Never had Klaus watched what Jade did exactly, but it wasn't hard to guess.

Klaus quickly scrambled to find the door handle and threw himself into the house, intending to rush to the couple, intending to tear Jade's neck out. But the second he was in the house, Jade casually looked up with the deadliest smile on his face Klaus had ever seen. He looked like the devil himself. Looking back to Caroline, Jade pulled his hand away from her eyes in a fist, like he was catching something. And he had. The second his hand had left her eyes, a pale, green light had followed, streaming from his fingers to her eyes. When his hand closed into the fist, the light ended, and Caroline began crumbling to the floor, Jade stepping back to leave. Save Caroline, or catch Jade. There wasn't even a decision to be made.

Klaus rushed to the ground, catching Caroline in his arms as Jade's eyes flashed gray and he turned. He was gone in a split second, leaving Klaus to hope and pray that Caroline was still with him. Her back was to him, her face facing the ground. She was completely motionless. He rolled her over in his arms and held her head up so he could examine her face. Looking at her slightly agape mouth and new eyes, he was flooded with hundreds of memories he had long forgotten about. Caroline's eyes were gray. She looked like a blind woman. Klaus remembered that was one of the things Jade did, take the color of their eyes. But it wasn't just the color, it was her mind. Right now, he wasn't holding Caroline – just her body. Jade had caught her mind and soul in his hand and had simply carried it out the door. Sooner or later, Caroline's body would be possessed by Jade and he would have her up and on her feet, controlling her every move while her mind was stored somewhere.

Klaus cursed himself and Jade. How could he have forgotten such an important detail of Jade's wicket plans? He had just allowed him to steal his beloved right in front of him.

Klaus slowly stood up and picked Caroline's limp body up into his arms. He glanced at his brother shortly as he turned to take Caroline to her room, where her body could lay until further possessions.

He looked down at her open, blank eyes. He felt like he had just allowed her to die before him. Reaching down, Klaus closed her eyes gently, making sure not to press on her at all. "I'm sorry, darling," he whispered to her, although he knew she couldn't hear him. "I'm sorry."

This had happened before, yes, but the people Jade stole never returned. They killed Jade before they ever figured out how to return the vampires to their bodies. But this time, he needed to get her back. He would torture Jade until he knew how. And then he would kill him.

No one, ever, would harm Caroline again…not with Klaus around.


	7. The Red World

This is gonna be really confusing, sorry. I'm going to stop trying to get these up here soon, and then maybe the world will give me a break so that I'll post the new chapters sooner. Thank you to everyone who is still with me! Means a lot!

* * *

"Jade!" Klaus yelled, his voice booming through the forest around him. He was beyond angry. He would kill Jade if it was the last thing he did. Klaus glared at the trees around him, knowing his rival was in their midst. "Stop hiding from me!" Klaus roared into the cold wind. His throat slightly hurt from growling so low and loudly, but he didn't care right then.

"So demanding!" Jade's voice echoed in a judging voice. Klaus spun around, looking for him, but he was still hidden in the trees. "You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," Jade said in a tone a teacher would use when talking to a student.

Klaus snarled as he couldn't find Jade's body. His voice seemed to come from everywhere. "Believe me, playing games is not the wisest thing to do right now," Klaus growled low in his throat.

"Oh, but come on, Nik," Jade said in a bit of a disappointed tone. "If we don't play games then everything just becomes boring and serious."

Klaus felt a wave of anger rush over him as he spun around looking for his enemy. "Show yourself!" boomed his voice. In the distance, a few birds were heard flying away from the area.

There was also a slight breeze that hit Klaus for only a second and then the crunching of leaves sounded right behind him. "Fine," Jade's voice said in a very close, very sassy tone. Klaus turned around slowly and had time to see Jade huff and put his hands on his hips. "Now what do you want?" Jade asked, like this was a huge waste of his time.

Klaus took a moment to look over his former friend. His hair messy, his cloths similar to his own, and his eyes still a piercing grey. He was exactly the same as he'd looked when they killed him. "I want answers," Klaus said, his voice calm now and his throat healing quickly.

Jade scoffed and turned to look to the right for a second in disgust. "Come on, dude. We both know I'm not telling you anything."

"Then give me different answers," Klaus intrigued.

Jade frowned. "What answers might you be looking for?"

Klaus watched him closely, hoping to detect some kind of…weak point that could help him. But Jade was solid, nothing was given away by his appearance. "Caroline," Klaus said. He had wanted to continue the sentence, but Jade interrupted.

"Oh! The pretty, little blonde," he exclaimed, affirming that he understood who they were talking about. "She's cute. You picked a good one," he nodded, like he was proud of Klaus.

Klaus ignored him with a bit of a struggle. He didn't like people talking about Caroline, and now he was furious that Jade even had the nerve. He breathed through his anger in order to speak. "How do I get her back?" Klaus said sternly.

Jade took a second to process the request. His frown returned and he stuck his head forward, showing confusion. "Back?" he repeated like it was crazy. He exhaled a tiny chuckle of wonder. "You don't get her…back," he answered. He looked like this had not been the question he'd expected at all, and that he didn't know how to answer.

Klaus' jaw ticked. "You took her soul, what must I do to return it to her body?" Klaus reworded, getting annoyed.

"Klaus, I _took_ her _soul_," he repeated slowly, telling Klaus the reality of the situation. "You can't just go and fetch it back up," he frowned.

Klaus stared at Jade in murder. Any second, and he would kill. "You killed her, then?" he checked.

"No!" Jade whined, like he had explained this and Klaus was just stupid for not getting it. "I took it, I didn't destroy it. I'm just telling you that there is no way to return it to earth," he said, calming down and putting his hands in his pockets like it was no big deal. "Dude, your only chance in seeing her again is if you join her."

"Then do it."

Jade raised his eyebrows and his mouth opened a bit on pure shock. "What? You're allowing me to take you?" he doubled checked.

Klaus pursed his lips in anger and uncertainty. "Is that the only way to see her again?"

Jade watched him carefully, looking for the bluff. "Yes, that is the only way."

Klaus nodded once. "Then take my soul as well," he declared.

There was a smirk starting in the corners of Jade's open mouth. He was flabbergasted. But he soon recovered and took two steps towards Klaus, stopping and looking him dead in the eyes. "What's your game?"

Klaus returned his look, staring into the eyes of his once best friend. "I'm just keeping things from becoming boring and serious," he mumbled in a dark tone, returning Jade's line to him.

Jade smiled in his devilish way. His smile had nothing positive coming from it. It meant death. He was excited when he got to watch the life leave someone's eyes. Especially now that it was one of the men that killed him. "Well then…Klaus Mikaelson…" He smiled, not believing his luck. "May I have your soul?"

"Will I be with Caroline Forbes?" Klaus demanded, knowing Jade might find a loophole.

Jade's eyes twinkled. "You will," he gave his word.

"Then yes," Klaus answered. "Take it."

Caroline looked around the red room she had suddenly appeared in. The room was literally red. Everything she looked at was tinted red. She felt like she had red sunglasses on. The room was small, with computers, dials, gadgets, and other technological things she didn't know about placed around the walls. She knew what they did; somehow Jade had told her. This was where she could control her life. She could change things; she could alter reality, plan out the future, change the past, all from that small, red room.

She stood staring at everything, considering her options and what the consequences could be. Her immediate plan was to change everything so that she was no longer a vampire. That sounded safe. She'd be in the exact same place she was now, just without fangs.

She bit the inside of her lip, her eyes falling to a computer looking thing that she knew was the key. Her eyes narrowed at it. Taking a step closer, she felt her head begin throbbing. Everything was surreal. As she took another step, it was like the floor was liquid – but just for a second, because then the bottom of her shoe hit solid ground. She reached out and took a firm grip on the chair that sat in front of the desk. There was almost like an electric current coursing around the chair. She could feel the static, but then the tingling ended when her hand clasped around the top. Moving around, she seated herself in the chair, staring intensively at the buttons and switches in front of her. There was a monitor, and it lit up before Caroline even sat down. It didn't say anything, but Caroline could read it.

Just reading it made her feel powerful. She felt like this was her destiny, to rule reality. But there was something – maybe her conscious – that kept her from placing her hands upon the keyboard and telling the room what she wanted to happen. Something was nagging her not to touch a thing. But the longer she stared at everything in front of her, the more she felt her hands aching to press levers and turn knobs.

Klaus opened his eyes, only to be met with an endless red. He wasn't in a room, and he wasn't outdoors. There was no horizon, and there were no walls. It was like he was in a bubble of red. He could see his body, but not the floor he felt himself standing on. Turning around, he knew what he would find – a pond. Just a pond. A pond one would go swimming in; but Klaus knew better. This would lead him somewhere else.

The pond vibrated and a picture played before his eyes. It was a blonde woman. She was laughing, in a kitchen. He could hear her laughter. It looked and sounded surreal. She turned around, clearly looking at someone. And then Klaus recognized Caroline, walking away from the counter towards the person.

The picture changed, and he could see the back of her walking to a figure he couldn't see. Her right hand came up and wrapped around the person's neck.

There was pressure on Klaus' shoulder, and he looked to the side to see a soft, feminine arm wrapping around his shoulders from behind. "You found me," a voice echoed softly from behind him.

He frowned, turning around slowly, knowing who he would find. Caroline stood there, smiling up at him with white teeth, blonde hair, blue eyes, soft skin, and a loving look in her eyes. "Caroline?" he asked, not believing his eyes.

Her smile softened and she pulled closer to him, hugging his shoulders. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I didn't mean what I said," she apologized, pressing herself to him for empathy. "And I thought I would never see you again…"

Klaus continued to frown at her. Something was wrong about her. Maybe it was what she was saying, maybe what she was doing. But he knew something wasn't correct. "Klaus," she continued. "I don't want to be without you ever again," she said sweetly, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Please forgive me for everything I've done against you."

Klaus pulled back from her, looking into her eyes deeply. This wasn't right. Something was off. And as Klaus studied her face, he came to realization quickly, and then the fantasy was shattered.

This was Jade. His work. Klaus spun around, looking into the pond. This wasn't Caroline. This was a copy of her. Jade brought him to a world where he was with a copy of Caroline. He'd found a loophole after all.

Klaus panicked. "No," he whispered to himself. He shook his head, hoping that telling himself it wasn't happening would make it so. He looked at the water and watched in anger as the image of Caroline sitting at a computer appeared before his eyes. _That_ was Caroline. She was somewhere he couldn't get to her. "No," he growled louder.

The Caroline behind him frowned. "Klaus? What is it?"

Klaus spun around. Anger flashed in his eyes. He saw a look of fear cross her face. "No!" he yelled again. "He can't do this!" he roared. "He's a man of his word," he told himself, looking for the solution.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, fright rippling through her words.

Then it crossed his mind that that _was_ Caroline. An almost perfect copy of her. That was her mind and body, but he was promised her soul. "Caroline," he said to the girl. "I'm so sorry," he said, speaking to Jade more so than to this person.

"Sorry for what? What is going on?" she asked, tears coming to her eyes.

Klaus turned around again, looking into the water. Caroline's soul was sitting before something evil. Something he needed to stop her from touching. "There's a way out of everything," he told himself. "Jade cannot defeat me. No one can."

The copy of Caroline reached forward and grabbed his arm, turning him to look at her. "Explain what the hell is going on!" she demanded.

Klaus took deep breaths, finally understanding. He looked deeply into her eyes, knowing Jade was inside the problem. Klaus shook his head at his former friend. How his mind could be that sick, Klaus would never know. But then again, Klaus had taught him all he knew. But even with his teachings, Jade failed with the simplest things, which is why Klaus would win again.

"Caroline's eyes are green," he told Jade through her. He ripped his arm from her grip and ran backward, straight into the pond, diving headfirst into water, heading for the true Caroline.

Jade entered the small, town house with Klaus' body thrown over his shoulder. When the door slammed shut, he heard footsteps start running the halls upstairs. He looked up the staircase just in time to see Bonnie come flying around the corner and lean over the railing, her hair flying to keep up with her. There was a smile of anticipation on her face, but it fell as she studied Jade's figure. "That's not Caroline," she informed him, kind of asking for clarification.

Jade shook his head and adjusted Klaus on his shoulder. "Nope," he agreed, turning and heading for the living room. He heard Bonnie's feet come running down the stairs to follow him. "Turns out we got lucky." He carelessly flopped Klaus' body onto the couch, and then turned to examine his work.

Bonnie came to his shoulder, peering down at the body. "Oh mi God," she gasped. Her face went from shocked to one of glee in seconds. "You got Klaus, too?" she exclaimed, clutching onto Jade's arm in excitement.

"Yes we did, babe," he cheered along with her. He turned and picked her up in a giant hug.

Bonnie held on to his shoulders as he spun her around once. When he put her back down, she started thinking. "Wait, how? He's too smart to agree to your questions."

Jade looked back down at Klaus' lifeless face and shrugged. "He came to me. Told me to take him to Caroline." They both stared at Klaus' form lying lifelessly on the couch. They thought about him offering his life for Caroline. He died just to be with her…

"Kind of pathetic, actually," Jade added.

Bonnie chuckled and looked up to him. "Does he think he can win?" she asked, seeing as Klaus would most likely have a plan behind his actions.

Jade sighed, thinking about that. "I think he might…" he admitted.

Bonnie frowned. "What?" she demanded. "Is that even possible?"

Jade frowned and gave her a sideways look. "Never underestimate the power of an Original."

They were all in the Mikaelson Manor again. Elijah had ordered them all there nearly five minutes ago when he'd found Caroline's body in her bed and Klaus' message on his phone. He walked into the living room where everyone was standing in a circle. Elena surrounded by Damon and Stefan, Rebekah between Finn and Kol, and Elijah stood among them, pacing. "Jade has taken Niklaus and Ms. Caroline," he informed all of them.

"What?" Elena gasped.

"Yeah, I know," Kol said, rubbing his neck, not happy about having his blood sucked.

"Oh, good!" Damon smiled at the same time as the other two.

"Not good," Elijah corrected, only hearing Damon. "Niklaus was the only other one that knew how to trick Jade. Now it entirely relies on my part and the work I might be able to force out of the rest of you.

Finn raised his eyebrows at Elijah, not expecting to be excluded with the other idiots. Rebekah scoffed. Kol made a face that said "not likely." Elena looked offended and insecure. Stefan remained serious, and Damon frowned. "Why should we care about Klaus?" Damon demanded. "We've been trying to kill him for ages without dying ourselves. And now it's happened."

"If we don't bring him back, we'll all be done for, genius," Rebekah sneered.

"And if we don't get Nik back," Kol began, smirking, "you don't get the blonde."

"Caroline," Elena corrected, but no one listened.

"We'll figure out a different way to get the blonde back," Damon argued.

Stefan growled, "Damon, use your head."

"How the hell do you plan on doing that without our help?" Rebekah questioned with that bitchy smirk on her face.

"Or we won't, all depends on what we feel like," Damon changed his mind.

"We will too!" Elena corrected him.

"Everyone stop!" Elijah scolded. He glared at all of them. "This isn't something we can just play along with," he informed them. "This is life and death. We work together and return our missing persons and kill the enemy, or you can continue to bicker until you all die off. Make your choice," he demanded.

Everyone remained silent; half of them silently agreeing with him, and the other half rolling their eyes but keeping quiet because they didn't want to verbally agree.

After about ten seconds, Elijah went on. "I trust Niklaus will find a way out of his mess. And if not, then compelling the witch will be no problem–"

"What witch?" Elena asked, thinking of Bonnie.

"You're other girlfriend," Kol mumbled, waiting for Elijah to continue. But Elena was too busy freaking out for anyone to continue with the plans of saving their lives.

"Bonnie?!" she demanded. "What happened with her?"

"She's working with Jade," Finn informed her.

"What?" she gasped.

"Moving on!" Damon said, ushering Elijah to continue before she had time to start hyperventilating.

And he did, luckily. "The plan for killing Jade is to stake him with a dagger."

"Won't that just put him to sleep?" Stefan asked.

"No. He's a step down from us with daggers," Elijah reminded. "A normal stake for him would be like the dagger for us. The dagger for him…he's done."

Finn crossed his arms. "And how do you plan on daggering him this time? It took you chains and a spell last time."

Elijah shook his head. "This time it all relies on speed, mind, and strategy."

Kol chuckled. "Great, just the things we don't have."

"Just some of us," Damon remarked.

"Yeah, you three," Kol sassed back, pointing at the timid Elena, the frowning Damon, and the brooding Stefan.

"Kol," Elijah growled, not exactly at Kol, just the last person that spoke. He waited a moment to see if anyone else had something idiotic and irritating to say. "Jade has just taken one Original. Knowing him, he'll be full of himself and looking to kill the rest of us," he said.

"Again, what's the problem?" Damon asked, liking all the Originals being dead.

"The problem," Finn said slowly, getting Damon's attention, "is that if we're not here, you stand no chance."

Stefan was glaring at Damon over Elena's head. "I suggest you shut your mouth now," he said sternly to his brother.

"And I suggest," Damon started, looking back over to his baby brother with annoyance, "you don't tell me what to do."

"I believe I suggested it."

"Stefan," Elena whispered, begging him to stop before it got out of hand.

Elijah put his hands in his pockets and stared at all of them in irritation. "If there is anyone in this room that will continue to resist helping, I ask that you exit the room and leave the rest of us to work."

Damon sighed in annoyance with the world and bit his lips to keep from commenting. Kol smirked, knowing even if he continued to be irritating, Elijah wouldn't kick an expert out.

"What we need to do is lure Jade here. Very typical plan, yes, but that is what is going to puzzle him. He expects more out of us. He'll assume the worst, but we're keeping it simple," Elijah went on to explain, beginning to pace again. "The six of us against him may work."

"May?" Stefan clarified.

"Six?" Elena clarified.

Elijah looked at Elena. "You're a human, Elena. There is no chance of you surviving him. He would end up using you as a shield in the end."

"So what am I supposed to do while you may or may not survive Jade?" she asked, talking to him personally.

He stared at her, ignoring the others while he spoke with her. "You will be safe in your house, where Jade has not been invited into."

Their eyes locked, and she silently told him she understood. He wasn't going to let her risk her life' that was a fact. When it came to Elijah, he wouldn't let her come to any danger.

Rebekah and Kol both noticed the eye contact and knew exactly what was going on. Elijah and Elena were 'a thing.' Both of them rolled their eyes. "You've got to be kidding me," Rebekah mumbled, letting her head drop back in tiredness.

"Pathetic," Kol said at the same time, shaking his head and looking down.

Damon frowned at the two siblings. "What are you mocking now?"

Before the two could tell the brothers what was going on, Elijah cut in, saving his neck. "Tonight, we'll lure Jade here. Kol, you will be the main target," Elijah addressed roles.

"What?" Kol snapped in disbelief.

"We'll all be in the house, with the exception of Elena. Surrounding him, we merely fight for our lives."

Finn frowned. "That is the worst plan you have ever come up with, brother," he said bluntly.

Elijah sighed, not knowing how to explain his line of thinking. "Jade is a complex man. So complex that simple things throw him off guard. Six against one…the odds are in our favor," he nodded.

But no one seemed happy with the plan. Kol crossed his arms. "Jade is faster than any of us."

"We're stronger," Rebekah answered for Elijah. "We might get him."

"No, we won't," Finn answered her back. "He'll slip right through our fingers."

Elijah narrowed his eyes, knowing that the strategy needed more. But there was nothing he could offer in time without Klaus. "It's what we have. What happens, happens. Until tonight, we don't know."

Stefan shook his head. "So that's it? We wait until tonight, corner him, and fight?" He could hardly believe that that was what he had to work with.

Elijah nodded regretfully. "We have no time for critical thinking. We have no _room_ for critical thinking. Fight or die. For the next two days, that's what we're all living on."

Damon scoffed. "How comforting…"

Klaus was swimming towards a far off room. He had no need to hold his breath; and if he had needed oxygen, it wouldn't have been a problem. He was swimming downwards, yes, but he could inhale at any moment if he wished so. He was moving through a red sea of something other than water, but something he could not place at the moment. He continued to make his way towards the room he could faintly see. He moved as fast as he could, having trouble moving in his soaked jeans and jacket.

He thought about what he'd just been witnessed. Thinking back to the fake Caroline, his mind raced. He was confused. Nothing made sense. He knew that Jade had found a loop hole, but what Klaus had said to Caroline made no sense to himself. And he didn't understand how he knew jumping in the pond would lead him to Caroline. There was something about where he was that made everything a dream. A dream he was having trouble remembering. Shaking his head, he tried to forget the confusing conversation he'd just had with the fake Caroline, and he focused on just swimming.

The light got closer, and he saw that it, too, was dampened with red. Within seconds, Klaus was had entered the room. His vision seemed to spin around before he found himself standing, completely dry, in the doorway to a technological room with a blonde woman sitting in the middle, staring at a computer. He felt the vibe of the room, and knew nothing good could come out of it. He didn't say anything, but Caroline knew he had entered the room.

She sighed, not wanting to speak with him, yet she started the conversation. "We don't have to be together," she told him, not taking her eyes from the computer screen.

"How did you figure that one out, love?" he asked, not moving from the doorway in case he triggered anything.

"I can change it – our destiny," she explained while her fingers tapped together, trying not to reach up and change everything in that exact second. "One touch and it's all different…"

"You can't change it," he corrected. "No one can change their fate."

Caroline scoffed. "You think you know everything, don't you?" she sneered. "Just shut up, alright? I don't want you correcting everything I say."

"Well it might be what you need," he said matter-of-factly, knowing he was most likely pissing her off. "Right now you need someone telling you what not to do," he explained.

Caroline shook her head. "And you're the perfect person for th–," she was cut off in the middle of her sarcastic insult.

Klaus took a step forward, forgetting to be cautious of any bubble he wasn't allowed to enter. "Caroline, you may think I'm an idiot, a man who cannot keep to himself, a man completely full of himself and thinks he knows what's best," she chuckled in agreement with him, "but I am a man that knows consequences." She stopped snickering at that statement. "I've lived many lives, darling, I know what happens."

When her disgust with him had stopped, it hadn't been replaced with a sudden wanting to understand him; it had been replaced with anger. "Really?" she asked darkly, turning from the computer and looking down at her side, like she was looking at him. "You know everything about what happens?" she questioned.

Klaus didn't answer. He knew confirming anything she was spitting in his face would just put her into a livid rage. He kept quiet, waiting for her to continue.

She stood up from the chair and finally turned around to look at him. "Then tell me, Lord Niklaus," she mocked, "what could my consequences possibly be if I rewrote my life so I wasn't a vampire?" she tried him.

Klaus had to think for a moment, going back over everything that had happened. But as he reached the thought process when she actually had been changed, he realized that vampire blood was what saved Caroline's life. "You'd be dead," he said simply.

"How?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"If you go back and take the vampire blood out of your system," he started, walking closer to her, "then you never would have healed from the car accident," he summed up.

"How do you know how I died?" Then she shook her head, remembering that she needed to correct him. "No. I _was_ healed! Katherine came along and forced her blood into me. I can make sure she never entered my hospital room that night," she smiled. "I can fix myself."

"Katerina saved your life that night," he argued back in a straight forward tone that ordered no arguing. "All of the treatment the hospital gave you caused a brain tumor to grow. Had Katerina not turned you into a vampire, you would have died within the week, going straight to the grave instead of growing fangs," he told her.

She stood there, speechless. "You're making that u–," she accused him after a few seconds, but the stop in her sentence confirmed that no, he wasn't making anything up. He spoke the truth. "How could you possibly know that?" she demanded in a voice barely over a whisper.

"Because I was there," Klaus said straight out, not feeling like making her guess any longer.

"How?" she asked again.

This time, he was more hesitant to answer. He didn't know how to tell her this. "How do you think I know you so well?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "I know you, Caroline, even though you rarely talk to me. I know your past. And I know everything you felt ever since you were thirteen."

Caroline shook her head, not believing him. "Dude, I swear, if you don't explain things in plain _English,_ I'm going to k– Dammit!"

Klaus stopped carefully approaching her and just walked right up to her. He stared down at her as he began explaining the best he could. "You know I take over people's bodies. I was planning on using your body for the time being, but something went wrong, and I was forced to just sit in your mind and _watch_," he said, taking her blank look as a good thing. "I remained silent until you went to high school, then I couldn't help but tell you things, knowing it would just make life easier for you."

Caroline finally understood. Her freshman year of school, she'd had this feeling that her conscious was literally speaking to her. That was how she knew everything there was to know about people. That was why she aced all of her tests. That was her secret she didn't want anyone to know: she'd had someone in her head for over five years. And now that she thought about it, when Klaus came back (or, when he took over Alaric) the other voice in her head had just left.

"Oh…mi _God_!" she yelled at him. "You were my conscious!" she informed him.

Klaus nodded, knowing that she was truly on the same page as him now. "Yes, I was. And believe me, changing anything here will alter you entire life," he explained.

Caroline wasn't listening to him, though. "Hold on, that would mean you were there for my first everything! My first clique, my first detention, my first kiss, my first – _oh_ mi God!" She stopped talking and looked down at his chest, trying to process her thoughts as she realized that her first serious boyfriend had been in her junior year.

"Caroline, stop thinking about it," Klaus told her, knowing she would just end up furious or incredibly self-conscious and shut him out completely. And then they would never get back to earth. "What I need you to do is calm yourself. Please, things can only go downhill from here, and your attitude will affect it immensely," he tried coaxing her.

She stood in silence, her mouth hanging open. She looked up to his face again with anger and disbelief in her eyes. She brought her fisted hands up and started beating on his chest furiously. "You were there when I had sex!"

Klaus took her wrists in his hands and frowned at her, trying to hold her back. "It's all said and done. No use fussing over it now," he said, shaking as she tried to wiggle her hands free.

She, deciding that he had her hands tightly held, stomped her heel into his foot. He exhaled slowly through his nose, annoyed that she was freaking out like this. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Finished?" he asked, and she stopped moving around.

She glared up at him. "Hardly."

"Then I suppose we're going to have to do things the hard way," he inquired, pulling her hands and walking backwards, leading her to a desk. He leaned her up against it and stood back, being cautious in case she exploded in a rage again. "Now," he said slowly, standing with his hands behind his back. "We need to figure out how to get out of here, and the only way to do that, is if you choose to cooperate completely," he informed.

"No," she said through a clenched jaw.

Klaus inclined his head to the side. "No?" he repeated.

"No," she said again, crossing her arms. "I came here for a reason; you're not just going to control me and make me leave," she informed him.

Klaus crossed his arms as well, but not in a sassy way, in more of a confused 'how can you be serious' way. "Caroline, I've already told you, you cannot change anything."

Caroline pursed her lips at him. "Well I'm not listening to you. I'll change anything I want," she insisted, acting way too stubborn.

"Caroline," he said in an angry tone because she wasn't listening to him. "If you change anything, anything at all, everything will change. You cannot go around messing with the universe."

Caroline leaned forward and got right in his face, even taking a couple steps forward to put their faces almost an inch apart. "Watch me," she hissed. She turned on her heel and stormed over to a type writer looking device. This time, Klaus didn't try to stop her. There was no way she was going to learn her lesson unless she did something drastic and learned from her mistakes. She pounded her fingers onto the buttons, spelling words and hitting switches she somehow knew exactly how to control. She hit the enter key, and turned around to Klaus with a smug smirk on her face. "There. I stopped Tyler from sleeping with Bonnie, and the world is still spinning," she smirked.

It took almost an entire .2 seconds after she said that sentence that the information of what she had changed hit both of them. Because she'd changed it, both of their minds were twisted so that they immediately knew exactly what the change had truly done.

Caroline's face went pale as she translated what she'd just done, and Klaus immediately regretted not stopping her. "Oh mi God," Caroline exhaled, barely audible. Her stomach lurched up, and she felt sweat starting to form on the back of her neck and her palms. Klaus didn't say anything, he knew whatever he had to say would not help at all.

Caroline had changed the past so Tyler resisted Bonnie, rejected her as she tried to seduce him. But Bonnie wasn't happy. And it cost Tyler his life.

Tyler was dead because of Caroline. Because she had screwed up the past. Because she just _had_ to prove Klaus wrong.


	8. Bubble Gum Pink

Caroline brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth. "Oh, mi God, I killed him!" she exclaimed behind her fingers. She was truly panicking. She couldn't think straight. Her face became pale and she stared at Klaus in fright. She spun around suddenly, bringing her hands down to her stomach as she looked at all the controls again. "I killed Tyl–!" she told herself as she scanned over the buttons and switches, thinking of what she could do to undo it all.

But they both knew that she couldn't undo it. Once she did something, returning things to normal was out of the question. "Dammit!" she scolded herself, spinning around and looking for something to fix everything, even though she knew there was absolutely nothing she could do now. "Dammit, dammit, _dammit_!" she yelled into the thin air. She brought a hand up and ran it through her hair, sending random wisps of hair askew. "God, what have I done?" Her breathing became short and she felt herself become dizzy.

Feeling it was all she could do, she tried to reach for a knob next to a computer. She almost got to it, too, but Klaus rushed forward and held her arms to her side. "No, don't touch anything," he warned. "You'll only ruin things further."

She shook her head, a tear falling down. "No. No, I have to fi–!" She struggled against him. "No! Klaus, let me go!" she pleaded.

Klaus knew how to fix everything, but he couldn't unless she let him. "Calm yourself, Caroline," he instructed in a soothing voice. "I need you to stop, just for a moment. I can fix this, understand? Just let _me_ do it."

Caroline took a few deep breaths, seeming to be believe him. She nodded quickly and shortly, staring at him with wide eyes. Klaus held her a few more seconds, making sure she was going to stay still. He slowly let go of her arms, keeping an eye on her. Once he was fairly certain that she was going to stay there, he turned and went to a row of little flips. They looked like light switches. Turning a couple of them, he looked up, waiting for the feeling of relief. And sure enough, he heard Caroline sigh behind him as they both felt Tyler was alive again.

"What did you do?" Caroline exhaled, holding her cool hand to her hot forehead.

Klaus turned around, feeling proud of himself. "Changed things so you had listened to me in the first place."

Caroline stared up at him with lost eyes. She nodded once, and held her gaze down at his chest. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"For?" he inquired, folding his hands behind his back. He knew what for, but he wanted her to admit it completely.

Caroline looked up at him over her eyelashes with an irritated look on her face. "Thank you for doing that," she clarified. But then she realized, she really was thankful, so why not let him know? She sighed and nodded her head to the side and focused her eyes on a far off TV. "For fixing my mess. For trying to save me in the first place. For coming here to get me. For not being selfish."

Klaus frowned, not expecting that last one. Or the one before that, to be honest. "Not being selfish? I'm afraid I don't follow," he said, taking a step closer.

Caroline clenched her jaw, not in anger, but in concentration. "I just killed the only thing that had been between us. And you fixed it and brought him back to life." She looked up at his eyes. "I honestly had expected you to leave him dead so that he was no longer a problem for you," she admitted.

Klaus raised one eyebrow. "The thought _had_ crossed my mind," he lied. In truth, Klaus hadn't even thought about what Tyler being dead to him meant. When he'd seen how terrified Caroline got, he only wished to put her mind at ease as soon as he could. But now that she brought it up, he realized how fast he'd put himself out of the equation, and that couldn't happen again. He rubbed his hands together. "Alright, we need to get out of here as soon as possible," he informed her.

"Great," Caroline sighed. "Now once you figure out how to do that, let me know," she said, giving him the point that there _was_ no way out, and that he was a fool to think there was. She walked over to a chair and sat down, rubbing her temples as Klaus started concentrating on how to escape the realm they were in.

Elena managed to come up with a way to be useful in the battle against Jade. Elijah didn't want her fighting him, fine. But she could at least talk to him. Positioning herself in the Grill with Damon, she was to be used as bait, only in a safe way. Kol was the real bait.

Jade had met neither Damon nor Elena, so they saw it safe that they be the ones to talk to him, acting like he's some local. That's where they were now. Elena and Damon were sitting at the bar, talking to one another while discreetly stalking Jade. They knew which one he was; he'd come in the building not ten minutes after them. Elijah had been watching Jade closely ever since he discovered he was back, and he had gathered that Jade went to the Grill almost every other day, drinking himself drunk with twenty year old girls. Elena was going to be one of those alluring girls that he liked so much. So, actually, yeah, she was bait, and not safely. Jade could kill Damon in a heartbeat. No, like, half that time.

Elena leaned over the bar counter and smiled at Damon, making it look like she was having fun on a date or something a normal girl would be doing there. She kept her eye on Jade as he made a blonde girl giggle. She placed her hand on his shoulder in an adoring way, and it made Elena roll her eyes. Jade was impressive, yes, but girls seemed so desperate in her mind now that she was out of the 'boyfriend' business.

"So what's up with you and Elijah?" Damon asked randomly, playing with his little shot glass between his index fingers.

Elena frowned, losing the smile and staring at him, her emotions clearly showing that she didn't want him to know something. "Me and Elijah? Nothing," she lied.

Damon gave her a look that a parent would give to their lying children. The look that said 'Are you sure about that?' "Do we need to put a truth spell on you, too?" he asked in the voice that matched the face.

Elena shook her head. "Damon, I don't know what you're talking about," she lied again.

Damon put down his drink and narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, come on, Elena. Something is clearly passed between those secret glances you and him share all the time."

Elena sighed. "It's really not your business," she said protectively.

"It is when you're my brother's girl," he reminded. He watched her for a minute, giving her one last chance, then decided to blackmail her. "If you don't tell me what's going on, I'll compel you to tell me and then I'll take the facts straight to Stefan," he warned.

Elena bit her lips together in annoyance and glared at him. "Damon, why do you have to know?" she demanded.

"Because I've been trying to get you for over four years now," he said like it was casual, "and I want to know how Elijah just drops in and picks you up without even trying."

"I just like him," she answered vaguely.

Damon squinted his eyes at her. "Ouch."

Elena rolled her eyes. "He's just different, okay?"

"You know, I'd have thought you preferred someone only a hundred years older than you rather than…what is it? A jillion?" he asked, being prissy on purpose.

"Yeah well those jillion years made him a bigger man than you," she snapped back in his face.

Damon made a disgusted face. "You've already slept with him?"

"Metaphorically bigger than you!" she hissed at him. "And way more mature."

Damon took a second to think about her statement. "You're kidding me, right?" he checked. "The girl that risks her life for _vampires_, the creatures that are going to live though anything, is telling me that she prefers mature demons."

"That would explain why I loved Stefan, and not you."

"No, you did love me. You just never had the guts to admit it."

Elena looked up to his eyes, not liking this conversation. She regretted never telling him, but it was too late now. It wouldn't matter now because she was with Elijah Stefan.

Damon looked hurt, and also expectant. He assumed that after he confronted her on it, she would finally say it to him, just so he would know. But Elena changed the direction of the conversation, avoiding the statement again. "I'm still with Stefan," she said, looking down to a napkin in front of her. "But Elijah and I have gotten….much more romantic lately. Things have gotten so tense between us that it's almost like we're together, except that we haven't actually done anything to confirm it. I'm still worried it's just my imagination," she finally admitted.

Damon looked down at his shot glass. He picked it up and downed the rest of it. Looking up, he saw someone very similar to himself walking up behind Elena. "It's definitely your imagination," he told her, killing her hopes and instantly making her depressed.

Jade stopped behind Elena at the bar and ordered himself a drink. Damon smirked, getting his game on. "Excuse me, sir," he said, smiling and looking around Elena's head. Jade looked back to him and bowed his head in acknowledgment. "You wouldn't happen to be a Salvatore, would you?" Damon asked.

Jade chuckled. "Salvatore," he repeated. "I haven't heard that name for years," he mumbled. "But no," he said, getting back to the question. "Hark." He held out his hand. "Jade Hark."

"Pleasure," Damon added, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. Elena finally turned to look at Jade, and Jade did a double take.

"And who might you be?" he asked, recognizing the Petrova looks. Damon sat back in his seat, getting ready to see how well she did.

Elena nodded her head at him. "Elena," she answered him. Damon reached his foot up and kicked her butt. "Gilbert," she added, translating Damon's hit. "Elena Gilbert," she said all together.

Damon rolled his eyes and pressed his cool glass to his forehead. Jade took Elena's hand in his and brought it up to his face. "Lovely meeting you," he purred before placing a kiss on her knuckles.

_Pompous dick, _Damon thought to himself.

Jade frowned and looked to Damon. "I'm sorry. What was your name," he said, realizing that his name hadn't been spoken.

"Oh, right. Damon Salvatore," he addressed.

"Ah," Jade said, realizing something. "That's where the question came from." He was referring to Damon asking about the Salvatore name. "Yes, we do have a slight resemblance, don't we?"

Damon smiled. "A slight," he repeated, not liking looking like him.

Jade looked back and forth between the two of them. "So, are the two of you together?" he asked, motioning between them.

"No," Elena replied immediately.

"No," Damon repeated sluggishly behind her, staring at the back of head with a disapproval sneer on his face. "No, she's interested in men old enough to be Jesus," he grumbled as he went back to looking at his empty glass.

Jade narrowed his eyes at the two, thinking. "Am I supposed to take that literally or metaphorically?"

"Llllliterally," Damon sang in a bored tone. "Apparently my hundred years just isn't good enough."

"Damon," Elena said in a warning tone.

"Salv_a_tore," Jade said suddenly in an excited voice. He pronounced the name differently, and it took Damon a second to realize it was his name. He had pronounced it Sal-vay-ter.

Damon frowned, as did Elena. "What?" Damon asked, confused at Jade's odd change in behavior.

Jade chuckled, smiling. "Okay…Now I get it," he said, leaning against the bar.

"Get what?" Elena asked, just as lost at Damon.

Jade watched Damon closely. "How far back does your family date, Damon?" he asked.

"I don't feel _comfortable_ sharing that information," Damon said sternly, giving him a sassy look.

Jade shrugged. "No problem by me. I already know what I'm looking for." He brought his glass up towards his face. "You're the one that will be clueless…" he sang before taking a drink.

Damon narrowed his eyes at Jade. "The first known record was in the eighth century," he answered.

Jade looked off to the side, like he was reminiscing. "Let me tell you children a story," he started, a smile on his face. "A long time ago, I was born! And the world became a better place," he said, nodding like it was completely true. "But before that, when the world was still dark and gloomy, my parents had their first son. My parents were Harks. But the kid they had was a Salv_a_tore," he explained, using the odd pronunciation again. "My mother had gotten her groove on with a Salv_a_tore and gotten knocked up. She never told my father until the kid was actually born. And when he _was_ born, dear old dad sent him to live with the Salv_a_tores – his rightful family." Damon blinked slowly, getting annoyed with the pointless story. Elena, however, found it interesting that the Harks and Salvatores were linked back then. Jade continued. "Some fifteen years later, I came along. And that was almost the same time that my brother had a daughter. Her name was Valerie. She and I had no idea we were related, and we fell in love. We had a kid, who became part of the Salv_a_tore family because they claimed that it was my brother's child. So the entire family was scrambled together. But everything worked out in the end…"

Damon frowned, not liking the story. Jade just told him that he was possibly his great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather. "So, Damon," Jade said, finally turning his eye sight back to the two. "I'm your great, great, great, great, great, great granddaddy," he chuckled.

Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise. Apparently, she hadn't pieced it together until Jade told her just then. Damon stared at Jade with hatred. "You are not my grandfather," he informed him.

"You're right," Jade said sarcastically. "My looks just _happened_ to fall into your genetics."

Damon had a solid look on his face, not believing anything he was being told. "You sired that one child. That doesn't mean the family continued off of that kid."

"Yes it does," Jade said, nodding his head. "See…" He had to gather his thoughts. He held his finger up to motion around. "_My _son, the one I had with Valerie, moved to France. And the French had a hard time with his name and it slowly morphed into Salvatore," he explained, finally using the right name. "So he started the Salvatore family there, and the Salv_a_tores continued their name here until…well…" He frowned. "I killed them," he finished the sentence.

Damon and Elena were both silent, trying to register everything they'd just been offered. "Um…" Elena said, not being able to think of words. "That is quite the story."

Damon wasn't as in the mood to continue with the happy atmosphere as Elena was. He cut to the chase. "You know, there's a kind of gathering tonight for all the vampires in town, you should come," he said, getting to the point they had come for.

"Let me guess," Jade started. "It's hosted at the Mikaelson's, and it's some sort of trap?" Damon gave him a smirk and inclined his head, letting off that he didn't follow. "Don't worry. I know who you are –"

"That's because we just told you."

"And I know you came here on a mission to lure me to the house," Jade continued. "Yeah. Tell Elijah I'll be there. And remind him that whatever kind of sophisticated plan his has, I'll outsmart it." With that, he winked and walked off.

Damon waited until he was out of the building before turning to Elena. "Is it just me or does that guy act just like all of the Originals rolled up into one?"

"I was actually thinking he acted like you," Elena said, looking at the door that Jade had already disappeared behind.

There was a ringing that came from Elena's pocket. She reached down and took her phone out, but before she could even look at the screen, Damon took it from her hands. "Ooh! From Elijah," he told her. "I'm surprised you haven't already changed his contact name to 'Love of my life,'" he said with a sneer as he opened the text. "'Well?'" Damon looked at her over the phone. "You know, he's right outside, why didn't he just come in and ask?" he asked her, like she would know. Then he got an idea. "Unless he wanted you to text back with something other than Jade…"

Elena gave Damon a look. In that look, she let him know that she would kill (well, not kill, because she's kind of a three year old compared to him – strength wise) him if he tried anything. "How about a love message?" he said in fake enthusiasm.

"Damon," she growled.

But it did nothing. Damon opened the phone and started pushing away at the buttons. Elena immediately jumped at him, trying to get the phone from him at every angle. But somehow he managed to keep it from her with little to no effort. "There!" he announced, holding his hands up. "It's done."

Elena tried to get the phone some more, but Damon quickly put it in his front pocket. Elena instantly stopped grabbing for it, giving him a glare. She relaxed and rubbed her forehead, trying not to let him get to her. "What did you say?" she demanded.

Damon just smirked at her. "If I did _anything_, it was bring you two closer together," he said sarcastically. He stopped before he could laugh because her phone went off again. He smiled as he opened it, only imagining what it could say.

Elena watched with dread as Damon's eyes skimmed the message. His smile instantly fell and he carelessly flopped the phone over his shoulder onto the counter noisily. She quickly grabbed it and looked at it. _Unfortunately, I do not wish to confront any feelings until Jade is taken care of… _Elena looked back up to Damon, who looked pissed. "I brought you guys closer together," he finally said in anger at himself.

"What did you say to him?" she asked.

Damon never answered because at that second, Stefan came through the doors, followed by Elijah and Kol. Rebekah and Finn had stayed at the house, making sure that all the hidden weapons were in place and ready for the attack. Stefan stopped in front of the two. "It work?"

"He knew something was up. He's expecting some grand plan and intense thinking. At least we've got him fooled on that," Damon reported the news.

Elena tried to keep her eyes on her phone as she went to her sent messages. Opening the last sent she saw that Damon had written _What if I love you?_ Great, Elena thought. She glanced up to Elijah for only a fragment of a second, but she saw that he was watching her in return.

"Did he say what time he was going to be there?" Stefan interrogated.

Damon made a panicked face. "Oh! I forgot to give him the memo. It had everything! Now he's not going to know what to wear, either."

"Oh, damn!" Kol said in a sarcastically disappointed voice. "Now he won't know to match his tutu to yours!"

"You guys, shut up," Stefan snapped, turning to leave the room. Kol turned with him.

Damon scoffed before following. "God! I face a terrifying vampire that almost killed me and I had to persuade him, and I don't even get a thank you. I feel the love, brother!" he called after Stefan.

Elena looked at Elijah once more. He was still watching her. She looked down and started walking around him, trying to leave quickly. "Elena," he stopped her.

Shit, shit, shit! she thought before turning around. She didn't say anything, just looked at him.

"Was it you or Damon who sent me that message?" he questioned.

She could get out of it. She could fix it right there. But she would also ruin the future chance of them. She bit her lip, thinking. This was it, move quickly into it all, or possibly tear down everything…

She took a deep breath. "I did…" Without waiting even two seconds, she turned and walked quickly out of the Grill, trying not to think about Stefan.

Caroline stared at Klaus' back as he hunched down under a desk to mess with the wires of one of the computers. Somehow, he had come up with the idea that by wiring the machines a certain way, he could get them back on earth. Caroline had called him an idiot and promptly sat herself up on a clear spot on a desk opposite him. "How long is this going to take?" she questioned, getting annoyed.

"As long as necessary," he answered. Caroline pursed her lips and tried her hardest not to throw something at him.

"What are you even doing?" she demanded.

He sighed. "I'm not going to try to explain." He sat himself down on the ground so he could access the gears easier.

"Then explain what you were doing in my head for five years," she said sassily, changing to the subject she'd been itching to bring up for the past ten minutes.

"Keeping myself alive…" he answered without detail. He frowned at the confusing box of wires and switches and possibly bomb triggers.

Caroline glared at his back. "You know, you're kinda selfish," she told him, grinding her teeth.

"Says the girl who stole her best friend's boyfriend in the eighth grade because he was _cute_," he shot back in her face, twisting a wire.

Caroline audibly gasped in offence. "You ass!" she accused. And her will power died as she looked down at the table she was sitting on. Perfect, she thought as her eyes landed on a cube looking thing. She picked it up and chucked it at Klaus' head.

"Oy!" he exclaimed as it hit the center of the back of his head and bounced to the floor. He pulled himself out from under the desk and turned to look up at her. "Would you mind not killing me while I try to save our lives?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "You have no idea how much anger I'm holding back right now…" she sneered. "And you really _don't_ because I can't lie."

Klaus turned around back to his project. "Well, not enough," he mumbled.

Caroline flipped him off, hoping he turned around and saw, but he didn't. She dropped her hand. There had to be something she could do to get back at him… If she spoke out loud, she could figure out what she could and couldn't do… Caroline brought her hands up and cupped her mouth, muffling the noise. "I can give him a serious headache without affecting anythi–" she tried to say in a tiny voice, but unfortunately, that _would_ affect other things. "I can…change his thoughts without affecting an–. I can give him something to worry about without affecting a–"

Klaus frowned as the sound of muttering faintly reaching his ear. "Did you say something?" he asked without looking.

Caroline opened her hands. "N– …Not to you," she had to settle on answering in a different way.

Klaus frowned harder and looked over his shoulder at her. She quickly dropped her hands to her lap, picturing what she must have looked like with her hands cupping her mouth. She raised an eyebrow at him, trying him. He watched her for a few seconds before deciding he would just ignore her. He went back to his work. Caroline watched him a few seconds more before doing it all over again.

"I can change his appearance without affecting anything else." She smiled at her ability to complete the sentence. "Without screwing anything else up…I can change his hair. How?" she asked herself, thinking incredibly hard. She opened her fingers again, feeling cold air rush in on her mouth. "How did you get to me?" she asked Klaus.

Klaus pulled back a bundle of cords to examine what was behind. "I allowed Jade to take my soul. But, technically I swam," he answered.

Caroline took a few seconds to make sure that was the end of his statement. It couldn't be. 'He swam.' Wow, really detailed. "You _swam_ to me," she repeated.

Klaus made a hum that confirmed the statement.

Caroline widened her eyes for a moment, as if to say 'Okaaay.' She closed her fingers again and tried to think of what to ask herself. "I can change the color of his hair without affecting _anything_ else because the color somehow changed when he was swimming…" she spelled out the situation she was going to make happen.

Klaus turned to look at her once again when the muttering started getting on his nerves. "What are you doing?" he questioned like she was disrupting him.

"Plotting against you," she said in a tone that would have normally indicated that she was being sarcastic, but seeing as sarcasm wasn't in her dictionary, she was being honest.

Klaus took a deep, slow breath. "Lovely," he muttered to himself. He lifted a wire he'd torn out of the box and pointed at her with it. "If you make another drastic change in the world, I'm not fixing it," he warned.

Caroline curled her lip at him, trying to sneer, but not exactly mastering it. Klaus was successful at not laughing, but did end up narrowing his eyes back at her.

"Go back to doing whatever the hell you were doing!" Caroline demanded him, getting mad with him even looking at her.

"Calm down, darling," he said in a drastic voice as he _did_ do what she had instructed. "You're so controlling."

Caroline hopped down from the desk and turned around to look at what she'd been sitting in front of – a computer. "Yeah, well you're annoying and…pompous," she accused back at him as she studied the keys.

"I believe you're pronouncing 'brilliant' wrong," he smirked back as he started taking wires out of their sockets.

Caroline giggled in a bitchy way. "No," she said with raised eyebrows. She pressed a few buttons. "Definitively pompous. Throw your enormous ego on top of that and we've got ourselves the biggest dick in the world!"

"I thought I was an ass," Klaus said back flatly as he plugged in a wire, referring back to her previous statement.

Caroline pounded her finger into more keys. "Ass, dick... any swear word you can think of," she listed off.

"How about…" Klaus dragged out, thinking of a few words he could title himself to. "Bastardly motherfucker?" he checked. Caroline had never heard that word used in an English accent before, and it took her by surprise.

"Why would you be that?" she asked, turning around and leaning her back against the desk. Her plan was all set out; she just wanted to smirk at him before she actually did it.

Klaus looked at her as well, a smirk on his face. "Sounds a bit sexy," he explained his reasoning.

"Really? Would it still be sexy if you had…oh, I don't kn–…pink hair?" she asked, a sassy smile on her face.

Klaus smirk fell from his face, and he realized what she'd been doing while 'plotting against him.' "Caroline," he said in a warning voice. "You'll mess things up."

"No, I won't."

Everything seemed to go into slow motion as she started to turn around again, and Klaus jumped to his feet. He came up behind her, reaching for her hand right as it hit 'Enter' on the computer. They both froze, Caroline smiling at the keys in excitement, and Klaus with his hands on her arms, holding her still. His breathing came out angrily against the back of her neck. Then it all came back into normal motion, and Caroline's heart rate picked up. She bit her lip as she tried to hold back giggles, even though she hadn't even looked at Klaus' new look yet. She suddenly turned to the right, but didn't move because Klaus held her still. "Don't…move," he ordered.

"Like hell!" She tore her arms from his hands and spun around forcefully, making sure he didn't block her. He was closer than she'd thought, and she stopped moving my putting her hands up to keep herself from running into his chest. She looked up at his face that was so very close to her, and a grin split her face. Klaus glared down at her in anger, while his bubble-gum pink hair rested on top of his head. Caroline started laughing at him, forgetting to keep from touching him. Her hand rested on his shoulder as she held her mouth with her other hand.

The laughing went on for quite some time, just to rub it in his face. "Change it back, Caroline."

Caroline took a breath and looked up at him with her smiling face. She pointed at him with both hands. "No," she denied with a grin on her face.

"And why not?" he snapped.

Caroline wrinkled her lip and whispered, "Because you look like a clown."

Klaus leaned forward and propped himself up with his hands on the desk. As he moved closer, Caroline made a sort of grossed out noise and leaned backwards, making sure he didn't touch her. "I suggest you do as I say before we end up having a serious problem…" he threatened.

Caroline put her finger on his shoulder and pushed him back. "Listen, Tinker Bell," she said with a snicker, "I'm not changing your hair back, so stop telling me to."

"If you don't fix my hair, I'll make sure we don't get back home, and you'll be stuck with me for a very long time."

"No," she corrected. "We'll go home because you know that Jade is trying to kill your family, and you need to save them," she reminded him, her eyes twinkling as she got excited while telling the truth.

Klaus raised his eyebrows. "But being stuck with me isn't a problem with you?" he checked.

"I never said that," she denied, crossing her arms.

"You didn't comment on it, either, which is something you normally would have jumped the gun to do if you could lie."

Caroline bit the corner of her lips. "Being alone with you isn't a problem right now, Barbie. I know how this entire thing is going to end, so I really don't care what road we go down to get there."

Klaus smirked. "Ah, yes. I forgot. Ten days, and you'll be obsessed with me."

"In _love_ with you, not obsessed," she corrected. "And you've still got a long ways to go."

"Well considering the fact that I'm standing this close to you and you haven't vomited or struck me yet, I'd say we're making progress."

Caroline reacted strongly to his words. She made her lips into a straight line and shoved him with both hands. The push was so forceful and unanticipated that Klaus back stepped three paces away from her, recoiling from the blow and giving her an emotionless look. "You haven't made any progress yet. We're still here, and I still hate you," she sneered.

"For now," he said with a straight face, almost angry. "But may I remind you that you know how this will turn out. I get you in the end. So how about you stop repelling me and just consent it all. It would make both of our lives a lot simpler." He turned from her before she could snap another rude comment in his face. So she had to say it to his back.

"And may I remind _you_ that the only reason you're going to win me over is because I said you would." Klaus went to the desk he had been under and started looking over his supplies again. "And if I hadn't uncovered that bit of information, we wouldn't even be here," Caroline continued, needing to yell at him.

Klaus chuckled. "Well then maybe you shouldn't talk so much…"

Caroline growled. "I only said it because your brother was pressure–" She didn't finish the lie, because she'd really been talking because she was overwhelmed. But Klaus didn't comment on her stopping of the sentence. He was frowning at the objects he'd taken from under the desk. "Are you even listening to me?"

Klaus picked up a sphere looking object and inspected it. "Not really, no."

That threw her off. "Oh mi God!" she yelled. "I swear I will do everything I can to change your appearance until we get home," she informed him.

Klaus lifted an eyebrow and looked at her, kind of worried about that true sentence. Caroline, however, lost her anger and became proud of herself because she'd honestly expected to not be able to finish the sentence. Now she'd set her goal and scared Klaus. Yeah, he might think he's giving her a look that said he didn't believe her, but because of his pink hair, all of his confidence just didn't show, and she knew he was going to work as fast as he could to get them back.

* * *

I feel like I'm letting you guys down. My dearest apologies. I have had the most insane week ever. But hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before next week :)


	9. To Kill or Not to Kill

**This chapter sucked. And I hit a major wall. And I didn't know where to go for a while there. And I think you guys have too high of expectations for this. And I feel like I've failed you. And I'm sorry it's been over an entire month since I updated. And I feel terrible.**

**And if you're still here, reading this, you're absolutely amazing. And I love you.**

* * *

"Figure anything out yet, Ken?" Caroline asked. She was lying down on the floor, staring at the red infinity of the ceiling. Nearly two hours had passed, and if he'd discovered anything, he hadn't announced it.

"Is everything still red?" he asked, giving her her answer.

Caroline groaned and stretched her arm over her eyes, blinding everything to her. "Get it done, for God's sake," she coached.

Klaus looked over at her from his computer. "I'm sorry," he started to say, "who was it that was claiming they came here for a reason and that they didn't want to go home?" he questioned.

Caroline flew her arm back down to her side in frustration. "That was before I got bored!"

Klaus chuckled in disbelief. "Your ability to hold your ground is impressive, love," he said sarcastically while turning back to click on buttons.

"Yeah, well so is your ass," she retorted. She then immediately slapped her hands over her eyes as Klaus smirked over his bare shoulder at her. "Dammit!" she yelled at herself.

Klaus smiled to himself. "I love the truth…" he commented to himself.

"Don't talk to me," Caroline instructed.

"Then I suggest you stop starting conversations with me," he countered back at her. Before Caroline had the chance to snap a sassy comment back at him, he changed topics. "You know, darling, if you were to come assist me, this might not take as long."

Caroline snorted. "Yeah right. Like I'm going anywhere near you looking like that," she dissed.

"No one said you had to look at me, love."

She frowned. "There's no way in hell I could just 'not look at you.' Your abs are like a cheese grater," she said with her last ounce of breath. But then as she inhaled, she moaned at her slip of opinion yet again.

Klaus looked down at his abs, trying to piece together how she made that connection. But Caroline just assumed he was smirking at her. "Don't talk to me!" she yelled again.

.

Jade knocked on the door of the enormous house in front of him. He'd knocked four times and was now waiting patiently behind the closed wooden door, with a blonde at his side.

A second later, the door opened to reveal Stefan standing with his 'acting casual' face on. Jade raised an eyebrow and lifted his hand, showing off the bottle he'd been carrying. "We brought champagne," he announced.

Stefan's eyes flickered to the girl beside Jade, and he frowned. That was Caroline. She had no expression on her face, and her eyes were guarded by a dark pair of sunglasses. What was she doing with him? Jade followed Stefan's now brooding look and nodded when he realized it was Caroline they were staring at. "Oh, yeah, don't mind her. She's with me." He moved to step into the house, side stepping Stefan. "Hope that's not a problem…"

Caroline followed Jade into the house obediently. Jade whistled as he looked around. "Nice pad," he complimented as Stefan closed the door, keeping an eye on the two new guests. Jade gave him a cute, overly excited smile. "It's so big and fancy," he said in a quiet, almost gay sounding voice.

Then he turned from Stefan and continued into the living room. "So where's the heart of the party?" he asked as he set down the bottle in his hands and looked around.

Stefan carefully walked closer. "They'll be here soon," he reassured. A complete lie. The rest of the 'party' was hiding in scattered places, ready to attack.

"Am I to take 'soon' as they're already here?" Jade questioned.

Stefan merely tilted his head, acting dumb. Jade chuckled. "Of course. Elijah had to mix actors into the group…" Then his eyes fell on the accessories and antiques placed around the room. "Ah! This is very impressive." He approached a sword hanging on the wall. "This is dated clear back to the 1800s…" He turned to Stefan. "Any particular reason you have it?"

"I killed my uncle with that sword," Stefan answered with a straight, emotionless face.

Jade dropped the corners of his lips in amusement. "I'm going to just guess you're the other Salvatore," he said while folding his hands in front of him like this was an exciting meeting. "So where's Damon?"

Stefan held his strong, undividing expression. "Who?"

Jade tilted his head in disappointment at Stefan. "Come on, kid. Let's not play games." He inhaled sharply and walked towards Caroline, who was standing still next to the couch. He put his arm around her waist as he frowned in thought. "Let me guess...Damon's also here, and everyone is having a very secret meeting about last minute detail to the plan of killing me," he summed up.

Stefan shook his head a bit in "confusion."

But before Jade could complete his 'you're so pathetic' look, an arrow came flying out of nowhere and flew straight at him. He was able to sidestep it before it made contact with his shoulder. He frowned in offence and looked in the direction it came from. Damon slowly emerged from the shadows with a frown on his face. "You know, you really shouldn't act so sure of yourself all the time," Damon said with a crossbow in his arms. "Because most of the time - you're wrong."

Jade sighed with a "happy" smile as he saw Damon. "Fabulous. It's a family reunion."

Stefan frowned. "What?"

But Damon was too busy making an annoyed-beyond-belief face and shooting another stake at Jade without even aiming. But this one did hit him. Straight through his hand. "Would you drop that?" he kinda whined. He turned to Stefan in a 'Get a load of this guy' way. "This moron claims he's our father from way down the family tree."

Stefan frowned at Jade. "How?"

Jade smiled as he pulled the stake painfully from his palm, trying to muffle his groan behind his shining teeth. "Well, you see, kid, a long time ago-"

"No." Damon stopped him. "We're not going through that again."

Jade frowned in disappointment. "But it's such a good story!"

"Yeah right!" came a voice from somewhere above them. Damon rolled his eyes while both Stefan and Jade looked up to see Kol leaning over the upstairs railing. "That story was boring when it was going on, and there's no way in hell it's going to be entertaining now," he called, resting his chest on the bar and leaning over as far as possible without falling.

Jade rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous," he waved off the Original.

But the conversation was soon cut short when Damon realized who else was in the room and became incredibly defensive in less than a second. "Caroline!? What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, holding up the crossbow.

Everyone else jumped to attention. Jade didn't want them to kill his minion, Kol was starting to remember the familiar patterns of the past, and Stefan just wanted to know what was going on.

Kol groaned in regret and frustration. "Come on, Hark. Really?" he whined.

Jade inhaled audibly. "Sorry, buddy. I had to," he said as if it was a bad thing to him too.

Kol grumbled to himself a bit before standing up straight and throwing himself over the ledge, landing like a cat next to Damon. He brought his hand up and started moving the crossbow down. "You can't shoot him," he said with annoyance.

Damon frowned and tried to fight Kol. "What are you talking about? We're just going defenseless to this guy now?"

"We have to. He's got Caroline."

"Yes," Stefan agreed, "we can see that. So why can't we fix it?"

Kol sighed. "Because Caroline isn't here!" he exclaimed, walking over to Caroline's body and taking the sunglasses off her face, revealing the pure white orbs that took the place of her usual blue eyes. "He took her soul. And we can't get it back if we kill him."

Jade nodded like it was all just the tragic truth. "He's right, men," he sighed. "You can't kill me for a number of reasons. That being one."

"What happened to Caroline?" Stefan asked, stepping forward as if they would listen to him if he was closer.

"And what other reasons wouldn't we kill you?" Kol asked with his head cocked and his hands in his pockets.

Jade folded his hands in front of him. "Well, for one, do you have a dagger? And you're all vampires so someone would have to go down with me. And two, you kill me, others will die with me because of a certain 'tie' I did a few days ago. Oh! And three, you guys just aren't good enough to touch this," he said with a 'tough luck' look on his face.

"What tie?" Damon questioned.

Jade nodded at his great grandson. "Let me explain. I have the ability to connect my life with whomever I choose. I die, they die. They die, and I'm just fine." He looked back to Kol with a very serious look on his face. "So you risk killing anyone on this earth by killing me."

"A chance I'm willing to take," he retorted.

"What if the beings involves your dear Rebekah, as well?" he tried.

"She's an Original; you can't hurt her."

"I've done it before," Jade said with a smirk.

Kol took his hands out of his pockets and squared his shoulders. "Keep talking, I dare you."

Rebekah walked into the room, not being able to stop herself. "Kol, don't!" she warned.

Jade looked towards her, not being able to stop himself. He hadn't seen her for nearly a thousand years. And the last time he had, she'd told him she loved him. He'd been waiting to see her again, to return the sentence he never had the chance to say.

But he didn't have the chance to say it then, either, because Damon shot the crossbow, sending a stake flying straight into Jade's chest.

"Damon!" Rebekah exclaimed as she watched Jade slowly drop to the floor.

Kol turned and glared at the guilty. "Are you insane?" he sneered. "You just killed him!"

Damon threw the crossbow to the side. "He can only be killed with the dagger. He's just temporarily dead right now. What's the big deal?"

Kol took a step closer, almost growling. "If you're staked, you die. If his life was tied to yours, what happens to him happens to you. You'd be dead. You just killed God only knows how many people!"

Damon shrugged. "We're still standing, so I don't see any real damage."

"As of right now. Give it twenty minutes. We'll see if we're all standing by that time."

.

"Read me the digits," Klaus instructed Caroline. He still sat at the computer, but now with Caroline sitting next to it, finally giving in and coming over to help.

She sighed and looked at the screen of her phone. "Two-five-three-U-I-six-nine…" she trailed off, holding onto the last sound. She couldn't lie (obviously), the numbers had instantly translated in her head to what she'd grown up joking about with her friends. 69. Her eyes slowly wandered over to Klaus' arms that flexed as he punched in the code. Something didn't go right, and Klaus huffed his annoyance and leaned back in the chair, rubbing his face with his hands. That opened up his chest for Caroline to gawk at for a quick second.

Well, she'd intended for it to be a quick second, but she slightly became transfixed as she tried to imagine how hard his abs were. Klaus dropped his hands and narrowed his eyes at the computer, thinking. "Any suggestions?" he asked, looking for her ideas. He gave her nearly six seconds before he noted her unusual quietness. He looked up at her and smirked. "My eyes are up here, sweetheart," he boasted.

Caroline snapped herself out her fantasies and glared at him. "It's not my fault you're not wea–"

Klaus nodded once. "Yes it is. You're the one that felt it necessary to shrink it."

"I was getting back at you for being a prick!"

"And you clearly hadn't thought your plan out well," he said smugly and stood up from his chair. He went to turn the monitor of the computer, and managed to graze Caroline's shoulder with his bicep in the process.

Caroline felt the tingling in her skin and leaned away, not liking her immediate reaction to being touched by him. She knew he was enjoying himself, so she changed the topic. "How do you know this much about techy crap, anyway?" she asked.

Klaus worked on taking off the cover on the back of the computer as he answered her, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Like what?" she asked back.

He turned to give her a smirk. "Figure that out for yourself."

Caroline sighed at him, allowing the air to puff up her lips before exiting her mouth. "Fine," she finished with the last bit of breath she had left. "You know all this crap because…I don't know…you went to school for it?" she tried. Then it hit her that she had finished the sentence. "Why?" she demanded. That was honestly the craziest thing she'd heard.

Klaus finally got the back off and tossed it aside, looking over the new puzzle uncovered. "So that I could save our lives in situations like this," he answered. His tongue pressed down on his tucked in bottom lip as he carefully studied everything.

Caroline's gaze instantly went to his mouth, being sucked into a trance again. But she did have a clear enough head to respond to him. "You don't know if that's the problem."

"No," Klaus agreed, turning to look at her. "But you do."

Caroline knew what he was doing. He was hoping to trick him into revealing if he was just wasting his time or not. She smirked. "Now, why would I tell you so?"

"Because it effects how long you're trapped here with me," he pointed out.

Caroline drew her lips into a straight line as she grew annoyed with his smartass responses. "No, Klaus, that's not the problem. You've been doing all of that for no reason," she informed him smugly.

Klaus sighed, having feared that was what she was going to say. He stood up straight and tossed down a wire he'd taken off of the back. "Well at least we know that plan failed," he said, forcing himself not to become angry. He turned and walked away from the problem, trying to clear his head.

Caroline hopped down from the desk as well. She looked over all the wires and switches Klaus had taken apart in hopes of figuring it all out. That was crazy. How would these fake computers help him at all? They were made to destroy things, not fix them. In fact, that entire world had been made as a hellhole for people to screw things up in. If Klaus hadn't showed up, she probably would have already destroyed the world.

That had been the plan to Jade – allow Caroline to mess things up on her own. But he hadn't known Klaus would be there to stop her. Klaus wasn't supposed to be there. Maybe that had something to do with it all.

"Hey," Caroline said aloud, getting Klaus' attention. "What if it's something we have to do?"

Klaus' hand had been rubbing the back of his head, but now it rested still as he raised his eyebrows at her. "Well I wasn't expecting on just suddenly being snapped back to earth by doing nothing," he said obviously.

"You're such an ass," she said before she could stop the insult from slipping out. She quickly covered her words by continuing over his slightly angered face. "I mean…You weren't supposed to show up here with me."

Klaus dropped his hand, waiting for the rest of her theory.

"I was supposed to be here alone as I suffered. So you being here was against Jade's plan for some reason. He doesn't want you here or he'd have put you here in the first place. This place was designed to be hell," she explained.

Klaus took a step towards her. "What are you implying?" he asked in a low voice.

Caroline's breath stopped as she saw how he was slowly swaying towards her. He knew where he thoughts were heading, and she immediately regretted bringing it up. "Never mind. I changed my mi–"

Klaus smirked as he came within five feet of her. "You were going to suggest that to prove Jade wrong, we should enjoy one another," he drawled out, continuing to lean in.

Caroline took a step to the side. "Yes, and then I realized how ridiculous it was."

She made to take another step away, but Klaus reached out and took her arm. "No, no. That actually might work." He stopped moving towards her, finally, but his hand did remain around her wrist. "We need to turn this place into heaven."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at his cheesiness. "Easier said than done," she sneered at him.

Klaus slowly smiled at her. "Funner done than said."

Caroline's stomach jumped at that, but she quickly forced a disgusted look onto her face. "You're old."

"But still your pulse picks up."

"My pulse didn't– Never mind. Just leave me alone," she said.

She turned and tried to pull away from him, but he just yanked her hand back, forcing her to spin around into his chest. "Not a chance," he murmured down to her, feeling her hand on his chest as she braced herself against the compact. "That's our ticket out of here."

Caroline narrowed her eyes up at him. "You don't know that."

"No," Klaus agreed. He brought a hand up slowly. He ran his fingers down the side of her face. "But you do," he said tenderly.

Caroline looked down at their touching chests. She closed her eyes as she tried to concentrate on something other than the tingling of her cheek following Klaus' hand. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Us bonding is not what's going to get us–"

Her eyes snapped up to Klaus' just in time to see him start to smirk. She pursed her lips at him in anger and ripped her wrist from his grip, turning on her heel and walking away from him. "Looks like things play out to my advantage yet again," he smiled at her.

Caroline stopped in her tracks and groaned in irritation. "So then, what now Klaus?" She turned around to look at him. "Hm? We just sit here holding hands, waiting to be taken back to earth?" she questioned. "Maybe share some issues we've been having with our lives? Have a heart to heart?"

Klaus raised his eyebrows at her in a knowing way. "I already know everything about you, love. Remember?"

That ticked Caroline off even more. She sneered at him. "How could I forget?"

Klaus took a step forward. "So what really needs to happen here if you falling for me."

"Not the other way around?" she inquired, wanting to know why it was her that it depended on.

Klaus frowned as if it were obvious. "We both know I already fell for you," he explained, "so it's your turn now."

Caroline blinked at his words, feeling a tad touched. "I don't have to fall for you," she declared, shocking herself that that was an option.

Klaus was still walking towards her slowly. "No, but you will." He stopped walking, finally giving her a bit of space. "Ten days, remember? That's the lucky date you wrote out for us a while back."

"Yeah, but we're not going to be in here for ten days."

"Well then consider this our foundation," he suggested with a hand gesture. "This is where it all starts."

.

Damon sat on the couch next to Kol and Elijah. They were watching the corpse at their feet, wondering what to do now. Rebekah was pacing around Jade's body, watching him carefully. Stefan was enjoying himself on the sidelines, not caring what happened any more. He's asked question after question and was just being ignored so he didn't really care as of right then. But Caroline's body still stood next to him, not speaking, reacting, or even moving in any way. She was almost like a pillar.

Kol had his head in his hand, trying to think. "Okay, I am so confused right now, it's not even amusing," he declared.

Elijah sighed. He seemed to be the only one that had the slightest clue what was going on. He seemed to be the only one that _cared_. He sat back, leaning completely into the couch. "Jade is dead; staked with wood. His life is connected to others that we don't know about. So anyone could die within the next hour. Also, he's taken Caroline's soul, so we need to get her back before we can completely kill him with the dagger that has to be used by a human."

Kol started laughing. He couldn't take it. This was all just repeating the past, only they had more idiots on their hands now. "So what do we _do_?" he asked in a whisper.

"You tell me, brother," Elijah said with a bit of aggression. "Lock him up? Hold him captive? He has more out there like Caroline. They're his shells right now. His puppets, if you will. He can control their every move, and there's no way we can win."

Stefan was watching Caroline's blank face closely. "We could always just catch them as they come and lock them up with him. We've got plenty of cells downstairs..."

Rebekah nodded. "That's probably the only thing we can do. We just have to hope that he doesn't have too many vampires out there."

"Or incredibly strong ones..." Elijah added on top of that.

Kol stopped rubbing his temples at Elijah's words. Strong vampires.

He had sensed Klaus' presence that night when Caroline was taken over. There was no way Klaus let Jade go without getting his love back. And there was no way Jade would have agreed to anything except for...

Kol growled and stomped his foot once. "Shit!" he exclaimed loudly. He looked at Elijah. "We may or may not have a slight problem on our hands..."

Elijah gave him a stern look that clearly said no games. "What."

"Well," Kol dragged out. "Caroline was taken by Jade, and we all know how Klaus feels about her. And there's only one thing Jade wants out of us all. And that kind of is-"

"Our power," Rebekah answered like it was obvious. "Okay, so what are you implying?"

"I'm _implying_, sister, that Jade took Klaus, too."

Rebekah frowned. "Why would Klaus do that? He's smarter than that."

"But there's nothing stronger than love," Damon mumbled. He looked up at Rebekah with a disapproving look on his face. "Klaus went after Caroline. Without knowing how to get back." He sighed and rubbed his hands together. "So, either he'll figure it out soon enough and get his hybrid ass back to earth...Or we might be doomed."

* * *

**I know I don't deserve this because I'm a terrible writer, but feedback would be a HUGE help for me to get back on the roll with this story!**


	10. Here They Come a'Knockin

**I'm a terriblepersonandIknowit and I'll clap my hands * *. Gah. Why do you guys put up with me? I suck. I'm a horrible person. You should just message me now and tell me how disgusted you are with me. **

**Anyway, here's another chapter of this story that has dragged on for _far_ too long. But I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying it. But you're probably just entertaining me, and I thank you for that. **

* * *

Caroline was laying down across the desk she'd cleared off - which had just made a cluster of a mess at their feet - as she listened to Klaus _not_ speak. He'd just given her one worded answers for every question she'd given him.

"What's your middle name?"

"Don't have one."

What kind of dork didn't have a middle name? He also claimed his favorite color was black (go figure) and his favorite thing to do was paint. He was giving her nothing to work with.

Caroline sighed. "You made it very clear that for us to get out of here, I need to fall for you," she reminded him, "and that's kinda hard when you won't talk."

Klaus leaned against the edge of the desk, fiddling his fingers around to give him something to do. "There's really not much to tell," he said with a shrug. "Being around for hundreds of years can wring you of your excitement."

Caroline scoffed. "Bitch, please. I know for a fact that you have more excitement than anyone in Mystic Falls, whether you let it show or not," Caroline set him straight. She slowly sat up on the desk, swinging her legs around and leaning over the edge. The sight of his bare upper body threw her off guard; she kept forgetting she'd made it shrink and in return he'd taken it off.

Klaus shook his head slowly. "Not the excitement I used to have. Not the kind I long for." He sighed, raising his eyebrows as if he was admitting something to himself that couldn't be changed. "I find joy and pleasure in killing things, Caroline, when I used to find them in sword fighting."

"Well, sword fighting is kind of like killing, isn't it?"

"No. I never wanted to win. I just liked the idea of defending myself."

"So what do you kill for now, then? If you're not defending anything?"

Klaus looked at her, a small frown pulling at his brows. "I don't know."

Caroline watched him back for a moment, knowing his thoughts. "Yes, you do," she set straight yet again.

The tension between them grew strongly in the silence that followed her words. Then he smiled a bit and nodded. "Yes, I do." He looked down at his shoes again, frowning to himself. "But I guess you could say I'm too afraid to tell you…"

Caroline made a truly confused face. "Why the hell would you be afraid to tell me, of all people?" she asked, standing up off the table and squaring her hips towards him, arms coming up to cross over her chest.

Klaus took an irritated breath, like he was upset she couldn't just piece it together herself. "Because your opinion is the only one I care about," he said as he slowly brought his eyes back to hers. "I'm afraid of how your thoughts of me will change."

Caroline tried not to laugh. Her thoughts on him were that he was a homicidal maniac that killed nearly everything that came into his path; she didn't think anything could make her opinion of him any less. But she did respect his tone of voice and the fact that he was nervous for her feelings. She tilted her head to the side. "Do you want me to figure it out?" she asked in a quirky voice.

Klaus' expression didn't lighten up at all. "I believe you already know," he blinked at her.

Caroline sighed and bit her bottom lip, letting her arms fall to her sides in defeat. She looked away from him as she nodded along to his words. "Yeah," she agreed. "I know."

"And your thoughts are?" he asked in such a poor, pathetic tone that Caroline almost 'aww'ed at him like she did to all those stupid puppies she wanted to take home.

Caroline chuckled. "Do you really want to hear them?" she tried him, raising an eyebrow.

Klaus stood up off the desk as well and took a few steps away. "Perhaps not."

Caroline exhaled in annoyance and flashed in front of him, placing her hand on his bare chest to make him stop, but then was distracted at how hard his muscles were. She muttered a 'whoa' under her breath before quickly jerking her hand back like he'd burned her. "Okay, listen," she said, gathering her composer she so easily lost around him. "My thoughts on you can't be changed right now," she informed him. "I'm kind of glad, actually, because this is a twisted, psychotic relationship that might actually be good for me."

Klaus raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to actually get to the point.

She bit her lips together quickly as she thought about how to explain her thoughts to him. "Okay...I think you're the devil. I do, seriously. And you're just terrible and you couldn't be worse and you disgust me and you're just...ew, okay?" she asked, making sure he was following. And by the slightly ticked off look on his face, she knew he was right in step with her. "Alright, good. Anyway, since you're so freaking bad in my mind right now, that means that you can only go uphill in my field of 'Klaus.'"

Klaus licked his lips and looked over her head for a moment, showing his impatience with her.

"And so!" she continued, "You really should just say everything right now because I just told you you can't get any lower in my mind. And if we're going to become a...a..." she put her hands in front of her like she was trying to make an invisible ball, "_thing,_ then this is good because no matter what you do or say, I won't really think less of you. It's like a ladder that I can't back down from."

Klaus shook his head in wonder at her. "It's incredible that even as you're insulting me, you do it in an optimistic way," commented.

Caroline moaned in tiredness and brought her hand up to her forehead. "Were you even listening?"

"Yes, some ridiculous idea of never hating me more - which, may I point out, is nowhere even close to our real situation."

"Well, the words came out of my mouth, didn't they?" she snapped back.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her, thinking. "What is your point?"

Carline took a deep breath. "My point, I guess, is that you can stop worrying about my opinion about you because it can't get any worse than it is right now."

Klaus chuckled to himself. "Caroline, love," he said like he was a teacher trying to teach her something incredibly obvious, "I'm always going to worry about your opinion of me." Then he turned and walked back over to one of the chairs in the room, leaving Caroline alone to stomp her foot in irritation and growl.

.

Damon walked back into the living room dusting his hands off. "Alright, Mr. Papa is in the basement cellar, and Caroline's in there with him," he announced, even though they'd all ordered him to do it before.

"Yes, Damon, we know," Kol sighed. He was leaning against the railing of the stairs, his arms crossed. "Now what?" he asked Elijah.

Elijah was standing close to the door of the house, standing guard already. "Now someone needs to go unstake him," he instructed. Finn stood up to offer, but his motion to volunteer was interrupted.

Stefan frowned. "What? Why? I thought the point was to _not _let him bring more soldiers here."

"Stefan, think," Rebekah sighed. "We need to get your precious Caroline back, don't we? So he has to be awake in order to tell us how."

Kol frowned. "Um, no. He needs to be awake to call in the troops."

"Again," Stefan started, "why do we want more troops here?"

"I don't know! It's some interesting plan Elijah setup. Ask him," Kol said, almost pouting.

Elijah sighed. "Were none of you paying attention?" he asked, hoping that at least one of them had been.

Luckily, Finn had been. "Klaus. He allowed Jade to take him, and in order to bring him back, we're going to need to connect with his body."

Rebekah shook her head. "Klaus' body is just a shell now. He's not going to just respond to us."

Elijah licked his lips. "So if he doesn't, then we'll force Jade to tell us."

"He isn't going to tell us anything," Damon chuckled. "Why would he?"

"Because we'll kill him if he doesn't," Kol smirked.

Stefan frowned. "And what good would that do? Then we'll never get them back."

"Everyone just stop bickering," Elijah commanded, rubbing his eyes. "We're awakening Jade, getting answers, and solving all of this. End of discussion."

.

Caroline twirled around in circles, being bored beyond what should have been possible. Klaus was in a sulking mood after having that mini therapy session with Caroline, and now she was supposed to make amends with him while he was beating himself up. She stopped spinning and looked at him, letting her eyes focus before she began thinking of what she could do.

But the answer quickly came to her and she began to smirk. She cleared her throat as she looked around. "You know, we're surrounded by computers," she pointed out. "Couldn't be that hard to find some music."

Klaus raised an eyebrow and looked up at her. "What are you talking about?"

Caroline casually waltzed over to him, being light on her feet. She smirked at his serious and confused expression as she turned to a computer and punched in words. Klaus instantly shot his hand out to grab hers. "Caroline, no!" he exclaimed, panicking.

Caroline looked sideways at him in an offended look. He honestly had no trust for her in that realm. She raised her eyebrows at him in a trying way as she hit the 'enter' key and began to smirk. Off in the distance, music started to play out of nowhere. Slowly it grew louder and gave them a very nice background track.

Klaus looked around for the speakers, but found nothing but the red sky above them. "What did you do?" he questioned.

Caroline pulled her hand out of his grip slowly and turned it around so it was more of a romantic hold. "Gave us music, dumbie," she chuckled, pulling him away from the desk.

Klaus eyed her suspiciously. "You want to dance?" he checked.

Caroline didn't reply, just spun herself around once under their raised hands. She bit her bottom lip and pulled herself to him, draping her arm around his shoulders. They were definitely harder than she'd expected. Somehow in that cold hell he was still warm under her fingers.

"I really don't think we should-"

"Why?" she interrupted him. "We've got to get friendlier with one another, and we can both dance - perfect start."

Klaus seemed to be debating with himself as he watched her closely. She gave him a flirty smile and started moving herself back and forth, encouraging him. Klaus couldn't help the proud smile that tugged at the sides of his lips. He forced himself to sigh in defeat and placed his hand on her side lightly.

Caroline dropped her smirk and tilted her head in an annoyed with at him. He frowned down at her. "I give in and now you're not happy?" he questioned.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "We're supposed to be falling for one another, and you choose _now _to not pull me as close as possible?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Come on, Klaus. Whenever we danced before, you made sure I was so close to you that nothing could separate us. And now you're keeping me at a distance," she explained, nodding between them to prove her point.

Klaus' jaw ticked at her and he dropped his head forward to look further down at her. In one brisk movement, he yanked her to him and had his arm wrapped completely around her back and his face was almost right on hers.

Caroline hadn't expected it to be so sudden (although she should have), and she was caught off guard, causing her to become a bit of a nervous wreck. Klaus brought his lips closer to her ear. She could hear the hum of his blood flow. "Is this what you had in mind?" he whispered to her.

Caroline closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to remember that she had pushed him to make that move. She straightened her shoulders out and held her head higher. She returned his favor and leaned right in his ear to whisper her reply. "Much better, thank you."

Klaus quickly moved them in sync with the faint music in the background. He was impressed with her music choice. It didn't sound like the junk he had to listen to in this 21st century. It was classical ball music. But she did organize parties often, so he shouldn't be too surprised.

"Am I to take this way of bonding as a confirmation that you enjoyed our dances in the past?" he questioned as he moved them with the slightly upbeat music. Her hand was slightly cold against his back.

Caroline licked her lips, thinking. "They weren't completely terrible," she admitted.

"But can you deny that you like being pressed against me?" he murmured.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Will it make you feel better about yourself?" she asked in a sweetly venice voice.

Klaus smirked, even though she couldn't see it. "I think it makes you uncomfortable because you know I'm correct."

"It makes me uncomfortable because you're not wearing anything," she sassed back at him.

"And whose fault is that?"

"You know what I think? I think you're the most pompous man on earth," she said without a care.

Klaus chuckled. "But your self confidence that makes you fight back with me just shows how egotistic you are as well, love," he smiled.

"But I know when to control my tongue," she retorted.

Klaus bent his head to look down into her eyes for the first time since they started dancing. "If I controlled my words, then you wouldn't have the opportunity to show yourself against me."

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "Believe it or not, I don't like always arguing with you. It's just a constant battle of 'I've got more wit,'" she said in disgust.

Klaus thought about her words for a moment, studying her face while she went back to looking over his shoulder at nothing. "Would you prefer an actual conversation?" he asked in a much more gentle tone.

Caroline looked down at his shoulder in thought before slowly nodding. "That might be smart."

Klaus looked up from her face, concentrating on his thoughts. "What would you like to talk about?"

.

Jade laughed from inside his cell, pressing his face to the bars. "You can't just kill me, Elijah. You'll risk everything."

Elijah turned from the door and looked back at his enemy. He had been the one to undagger his foe. "I'm aware of that, Hark. But don't think it won't stop me," he snapped before leaving the basement.

Jade waited until the door was shut behind Elijah before he started laughing. They had no idea what they were doing. They thought they could just figure everything out like it was a puzzle. But there was so much more to everything. Klaus and Caroline weren't coming back. There was no way for them to come back. After robbing over a million people of their souls, Jade was 100% positive there was no way back to earth. They were stuck in the void he created, and there was nothing any of them could do about it all.

.

Kol stared out the window at the approaching bodies. There were only a few - four at the most - but he was sure that would quickly escalate. "What are we going to do with them?" he asked as he heard Elijah enter the room.

"Lock them up," Elijah answered. "Where are the rest of them?" he asked.

"Rebekah is on the roof with Damon, and Stefan is on the east side of the house with Finn."

Elijah walked to his brother, looking out the window to see the people slowly walking towards them. They looked like zombies, which they basically were. "Are you sure locking them up is a good idea?" Kol asked, turning his head to look further to the left of the view through the window. "There's only four now, but something tells me there's easily over a hundred in Mystic Falls alone."

Elijah nodded, agreeing. "The thought has already occurred to me. We're just going to have to risk it."

Kol frowned and turned to his brother. "Risk it? Elijah, there's only so much room down in the cellars, and if we run out of room, they're going to out number us."

"We'll decide what to do about that when the matter is officially risen."

"So you're not going to prepare us at all? We're just to have faith that everything will work out?"

Elijah sighed and looked his brother in the eyes. "We're Originals. We cannot die."

"But the Salvatores can," Kol pointed out.

Elijah lifted an eyebrow. "They can right for themselves. Accidents happen, brother. I do not see how you care what happens to the two young boys."

"Rebekah will have our heads if anything happens to them."

"Rebekah should not be so willing to toss her feelings to every man she feels a connection with," Elijah snapped back in a strict voice. "I have no sympathy for her losing so-called loved ones."

Kol scoffed in disbelief and looked back out the window. "And to think that you were the brother that was always there for her."

"I am always there for her," Elijah snarled. "But there comes a time when my patients runs low."

Kol's jaw ticked as he looked at his eldest brother out the corner of his eye. "Very well," he said. "But you will be the one to pay when she doesn't see things as passable as you do." With those hateful words, he walked away, heading towards the part of the house that wasn't being protected, leaving Elijah to stand guard with the only bodies in sight.

Elijah looked out the window at the approaching beings. He turned, heading for a weapon of some sort. He didn't intend on hurting the people - they were innocent, after all - but he knew that they would attack, so he needed to be prepared.

But he stopped when he entered the living room. He heard breathing. No one in the house needed to breath, so why was the sound of air moving through tubes flooding his ears? He turned around sharply towards the noise. He didn't make any sound as he took two steady steps towards the side of the room.

The noise seemed to be coming from behind the curtains of the large window that made up most of the eastern side of the room. He could easily see a bulge in the curtain, telling him there was an intruder. Were they in the house already? That made sense. But how had they gotten in without anyone hearing? There was no entrance from that part of the house... It didn't make any sense.

But Elijah didn't worry about the question _how _because he was more concerned with locking up the body before it could be controlled by Jade to attack. He stared at the hidden being behind the curtain, waiting for them to come out and make the first move, but they didn't. The body just stood there, away from Elijah's vision, and tried to make itself unknown. But Elijah wasn't in the mood for games. He wanted to get straight to the fight, locking the thing up before he lost his energy.

In a flash Elijah had gone to the curtain and pulled out whatever was hiding behind it, and he realized quickly that he really shouldn't have ignored the how question. His hand was clenched around Elena's small arm, and he instantly released his grip before he broke anything. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

Elena knew that if she talked in her normal voice, the other vampires would hear her, and they'd made it very clear that she wasn't to be there. "I'm sorry. I had to come," she whispered.

Elijah stared down at her with an angered gaze. "What part of 'stay home' was too difficult for you to understand?" he demanded in his low voice.

Elena didn't show any sign of fright under his eyes. "I needed to be a part of this. These are my friends, Elijah. I need to be there for them," she insisted.

Elijah leaned down towards her with a snarl on his face. "You could die here tonight," he hissed.

Elena shook her head. "No. I won't."

"How can you be so confident while facing the future?" That was something that always amazed him about her. It made her incredible at times, but times like now, it made her irritating. She wasn't safe. She was in danger even now. The longer she stalled, the less chances she had at escaping.

Elena brought her shoulders back as she looked around at his face. "Because I'm with you," she answered. "I know you won't let anything happen to me."

Elijah's jaw ticked. "Elena, you cannot risk your life on something so weak as that," he informed her.

Elena smiled. "Yes, I can, Elijah." She brought her hand up to his face. "I know you won't let anything happen. I know."

There was a bang on the door. Both Elijah and Elena looked over to the front door in panic. They were there. This was it.

Elijah took her arm and quickly pulled her towards the side of the house. "What are you doing?" Elena asked in a panicked voice. It was amazing how quickly she instantly lost her composure.

Elijah's voice showed no fear as he answered her. "You have to hide. I don't want you in the fight."

"Are you going to kill them?" she asked in a worried voice.

Elijah shook his head. "No," he answered sharply, opening a door underneath the stairs. "But you need to stay in here. Elena, please do not make me compel you to do so."

Elena stepped backwards into the small room as he held the door open for her. "I'm just supposed to stay in here while you fight people that you plan on not killing?"

"I'll be fine. They can't kill me-"

"What if they can? Jade proved he can do anything!" she corrected him.

Elijah exhaled his pent up irritation with her. "Then I die. But better I die than everyone on earth."

He turned to leave her alone under the stairs, but she caught his hand and pulled him back to face her. Elijah opened his mouth to argue with her once again, but she stopped him by pulling herself onto her tiptoes and moving forward to kiss him.

Elijah's pose went from being on edge to embracing her and kissing her back as if it were the last time he would get the chance to feel her against him. Although he wanted the contact to never end, to be in her arms to the end of time and protect her from anything that could hurt her, he had to pull away and go back to defending the house and his family.

He put his hands on her sides and moved her away, keeping his lips on hers for as long as possible before releasing her into the small room and turning to leave, not saying anything to her. She thought he was going to die, but he _knew _that if he didn't get away from her, she would die. In fact, he wasn't certain she would survive even if he was drawing the danger to him from the other side of the earth. She felt she always must help him. And that was one of the one things he hated about her - she just wouldn't let him go.

.

Kol barged into the door that led to the living room of the east wing. He had ran through the house, hearing the random beats of fists on the outside of the house. They were being ambushed quickly. Luckily, it was almost as if the bodies Jade was controlling were like zombies. Jade had to control each and every one of them, so things were a bit slow on that side of the battle.

He skimmed the room and quickly saw Stefan and Finn each holding a separate door shut. "Don't kill them. We're to knock them out and store them in the cellar," he told them in a hurried voice as he walked across the room to the stairs that led to the roof.

Finn nodded in confirmation, but Stefan frowned. "How do we knock them out?"

Finn tossed Stefan something and began giving instructions that Kol couldn't hear as he raced up the stairs.

Within seconds, he was on the roof, feeling the cold night air swallowing him. He saw Rebekah and Damon standing together as they looked down at the ground around the house. Kol ran to look at what they were witnessing, and it relieved his mind greatly. Below the house, on all sides, was only three or four zombies each. They had a total of twelve now. Nothing they couldn't take care of.

But as he looked out further into the mile surrounding the house, he saw many, _many _more of them. They had to stay on top of it all or they would easily get behind the game.

"Don't kill. Lock them up. Elijah will not tolerate killing them," Kol announced.

Damon smirked at Kol. "Like I'm going to listen to what your brother says," he snarked.

Kol raised his hands up. "Look, buddy, you can either do it Elijah's way, or die Elijah's way. Pick your choice."

Unfortunately, Damon never got to make his choice because all of the sudden, there was a body flinging itself onto his back. Rebekah managed to yell out a cry of surprise before she pulled the being off and clocked them in the side of the face so hard they fell to the ground.

"Rebekah!" Kol said immediately. "Don't kill them!"

Rebekah frowned and looked around. "The bastards can jump," she declared, not in the least bit happy about it. "How the hell is that possible? This is a two story house."

Kol shook his head in confusion. "Jade's controlling them. Be prepared for anything."

Damon frowned at Kol. "But we can't kill them by any means?" he checked.

Shaking his head, Kol turned to leave, knowing that if they could indeed jump, Damon and Rebekah were going to have the most trouble by themselves and he really didn't want to stick around to help.

Unfortunately, things were only worse inside.

.

"And before Rebekah could kill me," Klaus continued with the story of why he and Rebekah were no longer 'tight siblings,' "I ran away with Kol. We spent nearly two centuries by one another's side before things changed and I... well, killed him.

"Why were you in my mind for all that time?" Caroline asked, changing the topic.

"Keeping myself alive," he answered easily, without even thinking about the sudden question. "I meant to kill you...but you took me by surprise."

"Is that why you like me? Because I'm not predictable."

"Part of the reason," he nodded. "But there are many reasons. Reasons I will never be able to list."

Caroline cleared her throat. "When you say you like me," she said, frowning slightly, "what does that mean?"

Klaus couldn't help the warm smile that came to his face as he thought about her question. He tilted his head down towards her, resting his cheek on her head, able to whisper straight into her ear. "When I say I fancy you," he began in his slow, sensual voice that Caroline found he often tended to use around her, "I'm referring to the way you've made yourself the only being I would never kill. I'm referring to the way I would drop everything if you were in danger. Or if you simply called for me. My only weakness is you."

Caroline was so close to him that she was breathing against his shoulder. "But why?" she asked quietly. "I'm nothing special."

Klaus actually laughed at her statement. "You're nothing special?" he repeated, pulling his head back so he could look at her face. "Caroline, you're the first person in years who I've actually wanted to know. I've told you before, you're full of light. Light I've desperately seeked out for most of my life."

Caroline looked back and forth between his eyes, trying to actually understand what his deal was with her. "I'm not even twenty years old. You're over a thousand." She slowly pulled back from him, frowning at his chest so she didn't have to look into his eyes. "This doesn't make any sense. How could you have feelings for me? I'm a complete bitch to you."

"But you're not. You see me for me. I feel like my old self when I'm around you," he reassured her. "Caroline...you're absolutely unique. I haven't met a woman like you in all my life. I'm taken away by you."

Caroline chuckled in disbelief and turned away from him. "I don't know whether to believe you or just agree to make it seem a little more acceptable."

Klaus looked to the side, beginning to get angry with himself. Why was it she never listened to him? He wasn't good at spilling his emotions out outloud, and here she was begging to have more or it just wouldn't be enough. She was the biggest challenge of his life, and he was failing. How was she going to fall for him within the next nine days? This was all absurd. He had no idea what to do.

"Tell me how to reach you," he said in a low, timid voice.

Caroline turned around to look at him. "I don't know what you _can _do, Klaus. I'm going to fall for you no matter what, so just do whatever you want."

"May I kiss you?"


	11. Talk About Mood Swings

**Well, it wasn't a week before I updated, but 10 days. I think that's progress. Lol. No, seriously, I need to get it together.**

**I've said this a thousand times before but I don't think you guys get how helpful it is when you review or tell me to get my ass in gear and update. Seriously motivating. Not joking. **

**Anyway, enough from the sad little author and onto the sad little story. Love you guys for reading and sticking with me X) **

* * *

"You want to kiss me?" Caroline repeated. "Why?"

Klaus took a single step closer to her, being sure not to frighten her away. "It might strike some sort of affection for me in you."

"It might? You want to risk our first kiss while I still don't lik-" Caroline's eyes widened as she realized she couldn't finish her sentence.

Klaus tilted his head in surprise. "You do like me?" he questioned.

Caroline shook her head, frowning. "How could I? I didn't just an hour ago," she pointed out.

"Affection can spring upon you at the strangest of times," he smirked a bit, taking another step.

Caroline's eyes seemed to be stuck on his chest as he approached her. She was in shock. "No. I don't l-" she tried again, but failed. "I do?" she asked him, as if he would have the answers.

Klaus slowed his pace down as he came within three feet of her. "I don't know. Do you?"

Caroline took a few moments to catch her breath before she looked up to his close face. She never said anything. She couldn't. She was busy hating herself for just letting her emotions build with him in that short amount of time. That had to be a record for her. A record she really wished she hadn't broken.

Klaus looked at her closely, hoping he could read her mind. "So, I ask again... May I kiss you?"

Caroline shook her head quickly. "No. No, please don't," she asked gently.

"Would asking for a reason be too much?"

She frowned hard and rose her hands to her head, running her fingers through her hair. "How could I have just fallen for you so quickly? That's just... I'm disgusted with myself."

"Is the thought of loving me so horrible?" Klaus frowned, trying to figure out her mixed signals.

She exhaled as she avoided the question by stating something slightly off of his directed target. "The thought that all it took was a dance from you to change everything just makes me feel like I'm too easy..."

Klaus smiled gently. "You're nothing but easy, love. You do know I've been fawning over you for nearly a year now."

"And I just gave in within a few conversational sentences."

"Maybe that was all you needed," he suggested.

Caroline didn't seem to like his idea at all as she turned and wrung her hands together. "Okay so what do we do now?" she asked, changing the topic. "I like you, you like me, great. I don't see how we move forward now."

"Perhaps we should just talk," he said and rose his eyebrows. "Like, how you mentioned you wanted our first kiss to be special..."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him as she propped her hands on her hips. "I never said that."

"No, but you admitted you didn't want our first kiss to be when you were unsure of your emotions towards me."

"What are you getting at, Klaus? We already established that I like you. Need more proof or something?"

"I need you to confirm the idea that you've thought of kissing me," he whispered.

Caroline chuckled. "Of course I have. It's a girl thing. We imagine kissing practically everyone."

Klaus seemed to be unaware of her new information, and he frowned. "Have you ever imagined kissing Elijah?"

Caroline stared at him as if the intentions of his words would just be written on his face. "No?"

"Kol?"

"Absolutely not."

"So the thought of kissing Kol is absolutely absurd, yet kissing me is something you savor?" he questioned.

Caroline pursed her lips at him and almost stomped her foot. "You're incredibly difficult, you know that?" she tilted her head at him.

Klaus only smirked at her. "But you're loving it."

Her face was nothing but serious. "No. I'm not. I'm trying to fall in love with you, and you're just being the ass that I've always thought you were."

Klaus licked his lips in slight frustration. "How are you supposed to fall in love with _me _if I act like someone else?"

"Because I know that you're actually very sweet when you want to be," Caroline pursed her lips at him, earning a tilt of his head in return. "So be sweet," she demanded.

Klaus chuckled. "You have to be sweet in return, darling," he inquired.

"What does that mean?" she questioned. She was in a relatively good mood, what more did he want.

Klaus smirked. "I'll be sweet to you and tell you whatever you ask if you change my hair back."

Caroline looked up at his pink hair (that she'd surprisingly been able to ignore) and started to smile. "I don't have to."

Klaus crossed his arms. "No, but I don't have to be nice and open to you, either," he smirked.

The smile left Caroline's face quickly. He was such a dick. She couldn't have any fun without him finding a way to ruin it. With a growl and a small grunt of pout, Caroline turned and walked to a computer. "I don't know h- Dammit," she grumbled.

Klaus turned around to watch her as she leaned over a keyboard and type in buttons. It was simply ten seconds before she turned around with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed. "There, dick."

Klaus raised his eyebrows. "Is my hair back to normal?" he questioned.

Caroline widened her eyes. "Yes!" she huffed quickly.

Klaus chuckled at her short temper. "Very well. I'll tell you anything you wish, and remain in a pleasant mood. But don't forget, you have to remain happy as well."

Caroline gave him a very sarcastic smile and flicked him off. Klaus tilted his head in consideration. "My shirt's already off, sweetheart. How am I supposed to assume that gesture is _just _about being rude?"

She quickly put her hand back down to her side and opened her mouth a few times, looking for a good comeback, but not able to say anything. So, she had to settle for a very childish retort. "I'm prettier than you!"

Klaus laughed, much to Caroline's distaste. "Said like a true woman."

.

"Elijah!" Kol yelled from his side of the room. It was at the point where they had about ten too many possessed beings in the living room, alone. Who knew what was going on in the rest of the house.

Kol was battling about three at once while trying not to kill them. They were pretty easy to fight, but the hard part was that when he knocked them out, they stayed down for about three minutes before waking up again. It was a circle that was slowly becoming worse.

Elijah was sure to stay close to the stairs in case he needed to save Elena for any reason. He could hear her quick breath, so he was sure she was fine for the time being.

"Elijah!" Kol hollered once again.

Elijah growled. "What?" he demanded as he punched a short man in the face. They lame body just fell to the ground without much sign of even being hit.

Kol swung his arms and smacked some tall woman in the side of the head with a lamp he'd picked up. "I can smell him," Kol answered while he turned to another slow attacker.

Elijah frowned. "What? Who?"

Kol threw his elbow into a throat and scoffed. "Who the hell do you think?" he snapped. "Columbus."

Elijah gave up trying to get answers and used his own nose. Sure enough, there was the far off scent of ink mixed with blood. Klaus was approaching, or at least his body. The smell was far off, not nearly strong enough for him to be at the door. But that meant he would be there in barely any time, and once Jade realized that his strongest soldier was there, the fight would really start.

Elijah turned to look at his brother for a second. "Start taking them to the cellars," he instructed.

Kol scoffed. "Oh, yeah, brilliant. That's going to be a piece of cake," he snarked.

"You're an Original, Kol," Elijah reminded right before he backhanded a man to his side, "use your years of knowledge."

Kol rolled his eyes and picked up three bodies in a flash and then was gone downstairs. He was perfectly capable of getting beings down there within five seconds, but he just had to complain about it first.

Like always.

.

Rebekah tossed another body off the roof and turned to Damon. "Could you help instead of just making me do everything?" she snapped.

He'd just been standing there and only ever helped if he was being attacked. "No," he shrugged. "You're a big girl. Take care of your own problems."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Damon. Sooner or later we'll be ambushed and you won't have any idea how to fight back because you haven't practiced yet."

Damon crossed his arms. "I'm sure that's the case. It's not like I've never fought anything before."

"You trying to tell me you've fought zombies?"

"No, but I've dealt with your brothers. Kinda the same thing."

Rebekah looked down the side of the house while she sighed in annoyance. There was a mob slowly forming against the house, half of the beings looking up at her. Only a fourth of them actually figured out how to jump up, though, so she wasn't worried. They were easy to take care of.

Damon sneered at his predicament and walked over next to her. "When are they going to stop coming?" he asked in a disgusted voice.

"Jade's been around for ages, turning, I'm sure, at least two people a day. There's a huge amount of them coming."

Damon moaned. "What is the plan, here? What are we waiting for?"

"Klaus' body."

Damon stayed silent for about five seconds before he got impatient. "And _then_?"

"We force Jade to bring him back!" she growled, getting fed up.

"And we can't kill these pests, why?" Damon inquired.

"Elijah thinks he can bring them all back," Rebekah sighed. One of the bodies jumped up onto the roof - well, tried to. Rebekah lashed her arm out and chopped it in the neck right before its feet made contact with the edge of the gutter. "Just do what he says or he'll kill you out of just rage."

Damon stared down at the crowd of angry beings. "Your brother's annoying," he told the blonde beside him.

Rebekah chuckled. "You have no idea how many times I've said that to Stefan."

.

Caroline walked over and stood next to Klaus' head. He'd laid down on the ground when he became bored. His eyes looked up to meet hers, and it took all he had not to smile at her sight. She slowly lowered herself onto the floor with him, folding her hands over her stomach and making sure there was a centimeter between them. "Can you tell me about your human years?" she asked after a few seconds.

Klaus stared up at the red sky. "Why? I'm no longer that person anymore, so there's no point in telling you about someone who's long gone."

Caroline took a deep breath. "Yes there is. He's still in you, and he comes out a lot more often than you think." Klaus turned his head to look at her, and she mirrored his actions. "At least, it does with me."

Feeling a little exposed, Klaus looked back up at the endless red. "Very well..." Caroline's eyes stayed on him - a fact that didn't go unnoticed. "I've always been calm and to myself, but when I was human the fun side came out much more often. I was loving, caring, protective. I laughed. And most of all, I felt alive."

Caroline frowned. "You don't feel alive now?"

"How can I? There's nothing to feel excited about."

There was a slow smirk that came to Caroline's face. She looked down his body, trailing her gaze over his toned chest and arms, until her eyes landed on his strong hands. Untangling her fingers from each other, she reached down and pocketed her hand inside of his, lacing her fingers comfortably into his. "You're telling me you don't feel excited right now?"

Klaus frowned and turned his head towards her, eyes narrowed. "Are you implying that your touch is enough to bring me joy?"

Caroline noticed the faint play in his voice, and that was the only thing giving her confidence. She tried not to giggle at him. "It completely is, though, and I tell only truth," she pointed out.

Klaus didn't say anything, just looked back up, avoiding her eyes. But even with his motion to ignore her, Caroline felt his fingers tighten around the back of her hand, making sure she didn't pull away.

"Alright, so back to your humanhood," she prompted, smiling.

"That's it. I was happy. I'm not anymore."

Caroline scoffed. "That's it? Come on, tell me about growing up with your siblings."

There was the smallest shadow shift on his face, and Caroline knew she'd said the wrong thing. But instead of getting up and sulking away, Klaus actually swallowed down the pain he was starting to feel and opened his mouth to speak. "You know there was a sixth, don't you?"

"Sibling?" Caroline clarified. She slowly nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. "I heard about the youngest brother, but all I know is that he past away."

Klaus stared straight ahead, not showing any expression. "I killed him."

.

Elijah turned from the door to the living room when he heard the click of a door. Kol walked back into the living room without anything on his hands. "They're all locked up," he announced.

"How much room is there left?" Elijah asked.

Kol shrugged. "We've filled most of the cells." He turned to walk to the liquor cabinet, even though he really didn't have the time to drink. There were still beings banging on the walls of the house. Elijah was doing good at knocking them out as soon as their feet were inside the house. He'd started throwing them back out to create blocks in the way of the others. Kol took a drink straight from the bottle. "Add on all the others that Stefan, Rebekah, Finn, and Damon have knocked out," he sighed, turning around to look back to Elijah, "and we've got enough to fill a- Elijah!" he yelled suddenly.

Elijah knew what his brother was telling him, and he spun around just in time to see his brother swing something straight for his head. In a second, Elijah had ducked and moved behind Klaus' body. No wonder the rest of them were moving slowly. It wasn't because he'd somehow slowed them down, it was because Jade was putting all his energy into Klaus - which meant Klaus' body was going to be strong and unstoppable.

Kol was over to help in less than a second. Elijah wrapped his arms around Klaus' neck, trying to snap it, but was having no luck as Klaus' body fought back with skill.

The conscious brothers were both on the right track, though, as Elijah simultaneously twisted the top half of Klaus while Kol shoved his hips in the other directions, easily snapping Klaus' spine and killing him. But because he was a vampire, he was fine. That was something they couldn't be sure about with the other beings.

Elijah slowly let his brother's form fall to the ground in a heap. He looked to Kol with a disgusted look on his face. "Niklaus will hear from me about this when we get him back on earth."

Kol chuckled. "What till then? The others are going to start attacking soon."

Elijah shook his head like he didn't completely know. "We keep him in our sight and get answers from Jade while fighting off the rest of them."

"This is never going to end, Elijah. We're not going to get answers out of Jade," Kol hissed, getting fed up with the impossible plan.

"What would you propose, then?" Elijah snapped. He'd never been good with people arguing with him - especially his brothers. But Kol looked like he had an answer that was obvious. "Rebekah!" he exclaimed like that thought should have come to Elijah a long time ago. "Jade's in love with her, get her down there to deal with him."

Elijah couldn't even reply because he almost jumped to attack when he heard footsteps approaching. However, it was only the sassy blonde herself walking past her angry brothers. "Glad to see we're on the same page, Kol," she smirked. "I was just on my way."

Elijah lashed out and grabbed her hand before she got too far towards the basement door. "What gave you that idea?" he demanded, keeping his calm.

Rebekah let her weight fall onto one leg as she stared in annoyance at her eldest sibling. "I saw Nik coming. I quickly connected Jade with stubbornness and knew that your plan wasn't going to work, so I figured I'd give it a shot before you all butchered our chances completely."

She turned to walk away again, but Elijah held onto her wrist harder. She spun back around to glare at him. But he didn't say what she'd imagined he would. "Do not go within five feet of his cell. Do not agree to anything he says. Anything. He's a master with words and could have you into a loophole without you even realizing it. And do not let him out, under any circumstances."

Rebekah rolled her eyes at Elijah's seriousness. "You act as if I'm a child," she sneered. She ripped her arm from his hand. "I know better."

.

Jade leaned against the bars of the cell he was in. Luckily, they'd left him alone in there with the exception of Caroline's body. And she was promptly making herself useless as she laid on the ground in the corner. He tried to concentrate on all his little workers, but the fact that they'd taken Klaus out so easily was making him angry, and taking his mind off topic.

That was what distracted him until he heard the voice of Rebekah from off in the distance. That perked his attention. But trying to hear her conversation over the movement of the hundred other bodies in lockers around him was impossible. But, instead of getting angry and hitting something, he leaned his head on the bars and closed his eyes. This was Rebekah. She was finally near him. He may not let it show now, but he did still care about her. Deeply.

There was the sound of a door opening, and then footsteps following. Jade knew the sound of that stride, and he opened his eyes to smirk as she slowly neared his private cellar.

"And here I was thinking the party was upstairs," she remarked while observing the dead things in the cages.

Jade quirked an eyebrow in consideration. "The party's always on my level, darling," he commented.

Rebekah took a few more steps, and then he could finally see her. The exact same as she was all those years ago, just maybe more sour. She strutted up to him, admiring his ability to look bored but busy at the same time. "So low and sleazy?" she asked.

Jade frowned in mock offence. "I'm offended. I assumed you thought higher of me than that."

"Well, that was before you proved yourself to be a real ass," she sighed slowly.

"Are you talking about my leaving you hanging?" he asked, turning up off the side of the cell and standing face to face with her, watching her through the bars. "Too bad you're so upset about it. It was all a misunderstanding."

Rebekah chuckled. "I said I loved you, you didn't say it back. Did I miss something?" she pursed her lips.

"Yes," Jade said almost before her sentence was finished. He stepped forward, as close to the front of the cell as possible without touching the cold metal. "You were trying to kill me. Admitting my love back to you would have just screwed me over even more."

"So instead you just let _me _get screwed over?" she questioned, not wanting any of his cheesy bullshit.

"No, you're still not getting it." He inhaled deeply, crossing his arms. "You were going to kill me, I had to let you go. That's what I had to do, but not what happened. I couldn't forget about you, Bekah. It's just been a whole lot of denial."

Rebekah gave him a sarcastic smile. "Like I'm going to believe a word you say," she shook her head.

Jade's hands went to the bars now, leaning his head between them. "I'm not lying to you, Rebekah. What can I do to prove it?"

Rebekah tilted her head. "How about actually _telling _the truth?"

Jade raised his eyebrows. "You want the truth? Fine. I'm in love with you. Have been for the past nearly two thousand years. I didn't say it before because I was afraid I'd only get hurt." He laughed humorlessly. "I just didn't know that having secret feelings for the next eight hundred years would kill me."

Rebekah thought about his words. He could very well be telling the truth, or it could just be a bribe. "So why are you saying it all now?" she questioned.

Jade stared straight into her eyes while he faintly shook his head. "Because this is the end for me, honey. Either you all give up on finding Klaus and kill me, or you just get fed up and kill me. I'm going to die no matter what."

"What if we do find a way to bring him back?" she asked, noticing that that wasn't one of his possibilities.

"There is no way to bring him back," he informed her with a bit of edge. "You're all fools for thinking so. I've taken hundreds upon thousands of lives and never once has any of them come back."

"Niklaus is an original hybrid. He'll find a way."

Jade clicked his tongue. "Brains and strength are two completely separate things, Bekah. His muscles aren't getting him out of this one."

Rebekah snapped. She'd gone down there to get her brother back, and instead she was getting twiddled by this idiot. She was to his cage door in less than a second, holding his neck in her hand. "No, but my muscles could rid us all of a certain problem."

Jade chuckled. "And give you just a dozen in return," he muttered.

"If it means getting rid of you," Rebekah sneered, "then I'm up for any challenge."

Jade put on a fake pouty face. "Including the grief of missing me?" he whined.

Rebekah wrinkled her nose. "You're nothing worth missing."

Jade pushed his head closer, pressing his neck further into her hand. "Yet you're still in love with me," he whispered to her.

A laugh escaped Rebekah's lips. "How can you be so sure?" she growled.

Jade's eyes slowly fell down to her lips. His tongue darted out to lick his own. "Because," he started, moving his eyes back to hers, "I can hear your heartbeat."

Rebekah didn't have words for him. He was completely right, of course. He knew what to do and say to bring back all those damn memories of being happy with him. But just as he had said moments before, he was just screwing her over. So, knowing that believing him was a huge mistake, Rebekah threw his head back, taking her hand from him and walking away as quick as possible, feeling as if she could get contaminated at any second.

Jade growled at himself as he walked her walk away. He spoke the truth, but he also needed to keep her away. He might love her, but she was planning on ending his existence, so what was the point in falling for her all over again?

There wasn't. So he needed to suck it up and move on. He was evil, and after watching Niklaus for so many years, he knew there was no happy ending for the bad guys.

.

"It was my fault," Klaus said. "I am the reason he died."

Caroline was slow to answer, not knowing what would push what buttons. "How could you have been the reason for your own brother's death?"

Klaus was low on patience while thinking of his past, and he sat up suddenly. Caroline was quick to follow him. His hand let go of hers, much to her disappointment, and he propped his arm up on his knee. "It was before I knew anything about the supernatural. Vampires didn't exist, and there were only rumour of men that could turn into wolves," he started to explain, watching the floor intently. "I went out to watch them one night and discovered everything was true. My brother, Henrik, had always loved those rumours, and when he found that I knew how to watch them transform, he asked to go with me to observe."

He cleared his throat, and Caroline's instinct was to touch him and comfort him in some way or another, but she was still hesitant to completely feel free around the hybrid. She didn't want to touch him in fear he would shut up again, and refuse to tell her anything.

But with her not touching him, he was very quick to get everything out and as fast as possible. "We got too close. The werewolves saw us. You can only guess what happened from there. He died. He died in my arms before I could even get us back to our village."

"Because of the werewolves," Caroline said slowly, hoping she could change his perspective on the entire catastrophe. "It wasn't you."

Klaus licked his top lip. "You can say that," he granted her, "but I'll still blame myself. I was, after all, the one that went against the warnings and took my brother into the territory of danger." His sad gaze was glued to his shoes.

"But you couldn't have known that would have happened," Caroline pointed out.

Klaus' gaze finally turned to hers in a sharp movement. "How could I not have? They were monsters, we were incredibly close. What the hell was I thinking?" he hissed more at himself than at her.

And she understood where his anger was directed. "You thought that you could show your little brother something really cool," she said gently.

Klaus chuckled humorlessly, turning his glare to his hands. "Yes, well, in my attempt to make myself look like a hero in his eyes, he lost his life."

A small frown started to pull at Caroline's eyebrows. "Is that why you don't try anymore?" she asked slowly, feeling an idea pop into her head. "Why you're not carefree? Because you're worried about losing something?" That made sense in her head. His tale explained so much. No wonder he was sour. His brother's death had to be what started his closed-off attitude towards the world.

"What else do I have to lose?" he asked with a shake of his head. "My family hates me. I live for my own entertainment, Caroline," he told her, looking back to her with sad eyes. "I'm alone."

Caroline sat up a little straighter and inhaled deeply. "Well, guess what pouty?" she said with a suddenly strong voice. "Not anymore."

Klaus frowned. "What?" he asked for clarification.

Caroline almost rolled her eyes, but the action of moving forward interrupted her sass. She forgot all about insulting his slow thought process as she closed her eyes and planted her lips on his. Klaus was taken back for exactly two seconds before his lips pressed back into hers, and his worries were released.

Their breathing hitched, and their hearts and bodies stilled except for the perfect movements of their lips together. Klaus' mind went blank while hers filled with thoughts. He didn't dare touch her in fear she pulled back. But it wasn't his touch that made her pull back, it was the sudden thought that jumped into her mind. She was kissing Klaus, the man she'd just hated that morning. But she wanted nothing more than for him to hold her to him and never let her go.

Caroline had to pull back quickly to keep her head on straight and make sure she had her mind wrapped around what was going on. Klaus watched her closely as she slowly opened her eyes. She chuckled while staring at his lips. "I think I'm to the point of no return," she whispered before looking up to his bright blue eyes.

And the last thing she remembered was him leaning towards her once again, her eyes falling shut, everything flashing and spinning, and then she snapped her eyes open again to be met with the floor of a cellar in a basement, sitting next to the last man she'd seen on earth. Jade.


	12. Suckin' It

**This is for you, anon. Yeah, you know who you are.**

* * *

Jade turned his head to see Caroline slowly sitting up, color in her eyes. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself. How was she there? There was no way she was back to her body. What had happened? Had she found a glitch? No, she wasn't smart enough for that. There was only one person smart enough to find a glitch... And if he had, he would have found a glitch to save them both. So if she was back, that meant Klaus was, too.

Jade groaned out loud. "Oh, I'm really starting to hate you," he grumbled to Caroline. She was causing him more than enough problems.

Caroline gave him a weak smirk. "Not too fond of you either, _Jay_."

Jade closed his eyes, focusing on Klaus' body, which he had been busy on controlling before Caroline's movement threw him off. He still had power over the hybrid's body, but why? Was it just a matter of time before Klaus returned?

Yes, Jade answered his own question. He felt his connection with the empty mind slowly becoming more and more distant. It was like stretching playdo. The more Klaus returned to his body, the further the clay was stretched. Jade estimated he had a minute before he completely lost Klaus' shell.

He was wrong. Within twenty seconds, Klaus was nearly completely back to his former self.

Elijah struggled with Klaus body as Kol ran back into the room with a stake in his hand. They'd quickly agreed the only way to keep him under control was to kill him momentarily. Kol brought his arm across his chest, getting ready to swing it full force into Klaus' chest. But seconds before he released his tensed arm, Klaus inhaled air suddenly and his eyes shot full of color.

He quickly adapted to what was going on and reached his hand forward, catching Kol's wrist. "Stop!" he yelled.

Elijah, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to speak if it wasn't truly Klaus, held his hand out to Kol quickly. "Halt," he commanded just as Klaus had. "He's back."

Kol was still unsure, staring at Klaus with still a murderous look in his eyes. But after a serious look from his eldest brother, Kol lowered his arm with a sigh. "What the bloody hell took you so long?" he growled.

Klaus chuckled. "It wasn't me. Blame Caroline."

Kol froze at Klaus' words. "Caroline's back as well?" he clarified.

Klaus frowned. "She should be. Where is she?"

Kol looked to Elijah with a look of sheer panic. His face went pale, and he was gone in a flash. Klaus spun around to Elijah. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Elijah shook his head, telling him there was no time to explain. "The basement. Now."

.

Jade growled when he felt his strings on Klaus break. He'd lost the most powerful puppet he had, and now he was stuck with one of the only two people to ever beat him.

He looked to Caroline with a spark of livid fire in his gaze. Caroline stood up instantly, feeling her heart fall into her stomach in fear. "How did you get back?" he almost whispered.

Caroline opened her mouth for almost five seconds before she found her voice. "I don't know," she claimed.

He didn't have the chance to argue further, and she didn't have the time to realize what she'd just said, because the door of the basement was thrown open and suddenly the three Original brothers were standing in front of the cell, looking in in anger and fear. Jade's attention went to them instantly. "Ah, the three musketeers," he muttered.

No one responded, mainly because they didn't know how. The brothers watched Jade so they could stop him at any second, but Caroline, instead of thinking of a way to save herself, looked at Klaus. He looked so different back on earth. He'd been free and lively in the realm they'd spent so much time in. But...he was closed off to everything now. She couldn't read him at all. And it frightened her more than Jade did.

"Might I question how you're here?" Jade asked Klaus, putting on a fake smile. "I mean, as of yesterday, there was no way back."

"Yet I stand before you, having proved you wrong," Klaus replied, flexing his fingers at his side.

Kol snarled. "Don't converse with him. He'll just find a way to save his ass once again."

Jade frowned at Kol. "You're just not a good sport, are you?"

"To lunatics? No."

"Lunatic..." Jade repeated in song. He smiled evilly. "I quite like the sound of that," he drawled, starting to walk in place, getting ready to move. "But what gives me that title?"

"It's in your eyes, maybe?" Kol continued to talk.

Jade chuckled. "Is it? I thought it was because I did things like this-"

In a flash he was on top of Caroline, biting her neck while threatening to snap her neck. Unfortunately, he forgot the Originals' power and speed, and from the time it took him to reach Caroline, they had torn their way into the cell and attacked him. Elijah and Klaus pulled him from Caroline and forced him up onto the wall without hesitancy. Kol, still having the stake from earlier, was finally able to use it as he sunk it deep into Jade's chest.

Jade managed to yell out in anger and pain before death quickly took over his form and he dropped to the ground.

Elijah held his mouth open as he caught his breath. He looked to Kol. "I thought you told us not to converse with him," he reminded.

Kol nodded. "I did."

Elijah shook his head in disbelief and started walking out of the cell, making sure to smack Kol on the back of the head on his way. Kol flinched from the hit and immediately got defensive. "What!?" he demanded, following Elijah.

Klaus had long ignored his brothers and rushed to Caroline's aid. She stood crammed in the corner, holding her neck as it healed beneath her fingers. Klaus brought his hand up to remove hers, looking at the damage. "Are you alright?" he asked quickly.

Caroline swallowed and nodded, still a bit frazzled. Klaus didn't buy it, though. She was looking over his shoulder like she'd seen a ghost. He wiped the blood on her neck away and sighed when he saw she was healed. "How..." Caroline started. She blinked strongly and frowned. "How did we get back?"

"Just as I had predicted. We found love in that hopeless place."

Caroline, in the midst of her confusion and hazed vision, laughed. "Rihanna," she mumbled.

Klaus frowned. "Are you sure you're alright?" he whispered, leaning in to look at her pained expression. "I'm a hybrid and I still feel unstable."

Caroline scoffed, standing up from the wall. "Klaus, I'm f-" Her legs gave in underneath her and she started going down, but Klaus caught her before she got too far.

"I'm taking you home," he told her strictly, leaning down to scoop up her legs.

Caroline made to protest, but found not use for it, and relaxed in his arms, closing her eyes and letting everything go black.

.

Elijah looked to his right to make sure no one was watching him. He opened the door of the closet and instantly found Elena's worried eyes. She raised her eyebrows in anticipation. She'd heard only fighting and nothing reassuring. He nodded, telling her everything was over and she could come out.

She walked out, going straight towards him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Elijah responded without thinking, embracing her back just as tightly. "It's all over?" she sighed into his shoulder.

"The most of it," he announced to her. "I fear we still must dispose of the extra bodies."

She pulled back, knitting her eyebrows together in worry. "But you're all right?"

"I'm perfectly alright," he nodded.

Elena swallowed hard and nodded. "That's really all I was concerned about."

There was a scoff from the side, and both Elijah and Elena turned to see Stefan standing there, watching them in anger. "Nice to hear my life isn't as important to you as I'd assumed."

"Stefan..." Elena started to defend, but he turned and walked away before she could even say a second word.

Elijah look down at her panicked face. "Go. Fix what you must," he murmured to her.

With one regretful look up at Elijah, Elena ran after Stefan, out the house. She heard the door close behind her and saw her former lover was already a good hundred feet away. "Stefan, stop!" she called.

Stefan slowed down and turned to look at her. "Why? What do you possibly have to say?"

"The truth?" she huffed, running up to him. She only stopped to realize she should have stayed at a distance when she saw the pissed off look upon his face. "I'm in love with Elijah," she said timidly. "I have been for a while now."

He chuckled. "Save me the details, would you?" He turned once again, not wanting to see her face. He knew something was going on, he'd known for a while, but the fact that he hadn't pieced it together himself made him want to kill something out of rage.

"You're just going to walk away?" Elena questioned from behind. "Without a fight?"

Stefan stopped abruptly. He frowned and looked to her in astonishment. "Is that what you want? Me to fight Elijah?"

Elena realized what she'd basically just set herself up for. "No, but you're not even trying to keep me."

"Why should I?" he snapped back. "You were quick to throw this relationship out the window. Why should I hold onto it?"

Opening her mouth in slight shock, Elena tried to find words. "I thought I meant more to you than that."

Stefan laughed at her words and shook his head. "You've got to be the most selfish person I've ever met." His face sobered and he pointed directly at her. "You can fall out of love with me, but it's unspeakable for me to do the same?"

"I never said that!" Elena denied.

"But you _did _it," Stefan hissed before her sentence was even done. He exhaled heavily and took a few steps backwards, wanting nothing more than to get away from her. "You just did it."

.

Klaus opened the door of Caroline's house and walked in. The lights were off, and absolutely no noise was heard in the dead of night. He kicked the door shut and walked into the living room. Just as he reached the couch, Caroline started opening her eyes.

She did nothing as he laid her down and pushed a pillow under her head. She looked up at him and watched him lean down on his knees beside the sofa, staring at her in worry. "Any better?"

She sighed deeply. "I'm getting there. What's going on?" she asked, trying to sit up.

Klaus was quick to put a hand on her shoulder and keep her down. "Jade's dead. For now. We still need to dagger him properly, but until then, everyone's slowly recovering."

Caroline nodded, understanding. She swallowed and looked up at the ceiling. At the same time, Klaus looked down, trying not to question her of previous moments for the sake of giving her air. But he had to. It would kill him until he knew. "Point of no return," he repeated her words from before. "What did you mean by that?"

Caroline looked at her hands, licking her lips in hesitation. "I meant that you can't leave now. I'm to a point where it will kill me if I don't know you better. If I don't see this to the end."

Klaus frowned. "Even if I decided to leave...you wouldn't back down."

Caroline nodded her head to the side in slight irritation. "Point of no return. There's no backing down now."

Klaus inhaled slowly, trying to understand everything going on. It wasn't the first time a woman had had this kind of motive towards him, but the last time had been over a thousand years ago. This was just surprising.

"And I'm sorry. For everything I've done and said to you." There, Klaus thought, more surprises. "I didn't know then that you were an actual person."

Klaus chuckled a little. "We're making progress," he nodded.

Caroline looked at his eyes, finally giving into the pull that had been nagging her. His looked up to meet hers as well, and it nearly threw her off guard. He had so many sparks in those blue orbs. She saw pain, sorrow, revenge, hope, and even nervousness. But it was her butterflies that ended the stare as she looked down suddenly, not being able to take the tension, not while she was still so light headed. "So," she started, "Jade's dead?"

"Soon. A death long overdue," Klaus confirmed.

"Is it, though?" she frowned in thought. "If he hadn't been here, we wouldn't have gotten _here_."

"And where is here?"

Caroline bit her tongue, wishing she hadn't spoken. Then she wouldn't have to answer him with an answer she thought she'd never say. But he deserved to know the truth after all this time (since he hadn't forced the truth out of her before). "...Together. Slowly falling in love."

He smiled in a bit of disappointment. "No, Caroline, I think just one of us is still in that process. I already love you."

Caroline instantly looked up at the ceiling at his words, trying not to let them get to her completely.

Klaus frowned. "Oh, don't shut me out now. You've heard it before."

"Not like that," Caroline snapped back almost aggressively. "Not when it actually mattered."

"How much does it matter, though?" he shrugged.

Caroline looks to him, hating the shrug. The shrug made it seem like he thought she wasn't sincere. The shrug made it known he doubted everything. The shrug made her want to smack him for not believing her and then kiss him to confirm everything.

She took his hand into hers, holding it up to look at. "It matters, Klaus," she whispered, looking at him seriously. "I don't know how to explain it any better."

She felt his fingers flex over her skin. "It wouldn't matter so if you didn't react to the words. So... what are your reactions?" he asked.

Caroline licked the inside of her lip. He still wanted proof. He didn't believe her, even with a truth spell smothering her words. She slowly turned herself on the couch, and he didn't stop her this time as she sat up on the couch and leaned over, close to him. "I'm honored. I'm scared. I'm so sure about this there's nothing that could change my mind. I'm trying incredibly hard to contain my excitement," she chuckled, clasping his hand in her lap with both hands. "And...and I'm also trying really hard to keep my hands off you."

Klaus looked up at the woman before him. Her hair was pulled over one shoulder in an untidy wave. Her skin was pale. Her lips parted and eyes sad. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hands cold. But she couldn't look more perfect to him. It was difficult to keep his breath on a steady rhythm whenever she was near him. And now, as she spoke to him so close, saything things he never imagined to be said to him, his breath was lost, as well as his heartbeat.

He looked to their hands, and pulled both of hers up to his face, kissing her chilled fingers that clung to his. "Don't."

That one word, that one sound was all she needed- no, _wanted _to hear. Her left hand left his and moved to his cheek, holding him as she leaned forward almost frantically to kiss the man she'd so easily fallen in love with. At the same moment, Klaus stood up, pulling her from the cushions and into his arms in one brisk movement.

Her lips, her hands, her body pressing into his, her quickening heartbeat, it all made Klaus' head spin. He couldn't help but feel in his mind that it was somehow surreal. He felt loved. And that feeling in itself was the most chimerical thing he'd ever felt, yet still the closest thing to human he'd ever imagined. And he never intended to let it go. She was his, now. And he couldn't help but feel like she'd taken a piece of his soul as well.

.

Rebekah stormed into the main room of the house, scowling in confusion and stomping in anger. "What happened?" she demanded from her brothers. "They just stopped."

Kol sat down on the arm of a couch and gave her a yup face. "We killed Jade."

Rebekah's face went from angry to livid and shocked. But she didn't speak. Instead, Damon stepped in. "Just like that? I thought you had to do some fancy dances and then cut out his liver or something."

Elijah placed his hands in his pockets. "He isn't completely dead yet," he corrected, and that seemed to bring a bit more peace to Rebekah's state of mind. "We still need to kill him with a dagger. However, only Niklaus knows where they are."

Stefan, who had come into the living room with Finn moments before, came to stand in the circle of talkers. "Why isn't Klaus here, then?"

Kol snickered. "He had a maiden to take care of."

Damon frowned in disgust. "What?! We're sitting around here waiting while Klaus flirts with Caroline? You're kidding me, right?"

Rebekah looked at Damon like he were insane. "Do you really want to be the one to rip him away from the closest thing he's had to love for the past millennium?"

Kol pointed to his sister in complete agreement. Elijah nodded as well. "Niklaus will come back at his own time. If you try to rush that, you might as well dig your grave before hand."

Damon shook his head in disbelief. "That has to be the most pathetic thing I've ever heard."

"At least he has someone," Rebekah mockingly pouted for him.

Both Damon and Stefan turned to stare at her in hatred. She only smirked and went to sit down. Finn walked forward before the next step to the argument could happen. "As we wait, I believe it may be wise to make the most of our time."

Kol frowned at his brother. "Oh yeah? And what do you propose we do?"

"Clean."

.

Klaus reached into his pocket slowly, trying not to disturb Caroline, even though he knew she was awake. She curled into his side, a blanket wrapped around her completely. He pulled out his vibrating phone and clicked answer. Elijah was calling, and he'd have to speak to his brother sooner than later. "What?"

"We need the dagger," Elijah answered straight away.

"I'll get it to you," Klaus answered hastily.

There was a pause on the other line. "Without a fight?"

Klaus thought about the question, then realized the actual reasoning behind his willingness. "I plan on killing him myself; why put up a fight?"

"Very well. As soon as possible would be prefered," Elijah dragged.

"I'll be there soon." Klaus hung up and held his phone by his head while he looked down at Caroline.

"Do you have to go?" she asked while staring ahead.

Klaus sighed. "I do," he answered with regret. "Will you be alright?"

She nodded, leaning up so he could stand up from the couch. "Yeah."

Klaus moved up from the sofa and turned back to her, leaning down just to press one more kiss to her head, needing to feel her before he left. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he whispered against her forehead.

He stood up straight and walked around the couch, heading for the door. "You have to let Rebekah talk to Jade before you kill him," Caroline said to him, stopping him in his tracks.

He looked at the back of her head from where he stood. "Why?"

Caroline looked over her own shoulder, catching his gaze. "She needs to. Trust me."

"You want me to risk him getting away just so she can say her final goodbyes?" he clarified with a hiss of spite.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "If they were going to kill me, would you want to be able to say goodbye? Even if I might get away?"

Klaus opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped mid thought. He said nothing. She was absolutely right, they both knew it. Why was their romance more important than his sister's? It wasn't. That was what Caroline was trying to tell him. And he was getting the message loud and clear.

He turned, not saying anything, and exited the house.

Caroline looked ahead once again. There was a small smirk on her face. She'd said those last sentences to Klaus because she meant them, of course, but also because she was testing herself. "My hair is brunette," she claimed aloud.

Her words were followed by an eruption of laughter coming from her. "My name is Caroline Forbes, and I can lie once more." She stood up off the couch and flung her blanket to the side. "Suck it, Bonnie!"


	13. Hello and Goodbye

**So after this past episode (417) I think I got my Klaroline Adrenalin back and sat down to write. Hopefully it sticks with me for some time to come. This story is reaching its ending, so it really won't take me that long to update. **

**I know you've heard it all so many times before and it probably doesn't mean anything, but**

**Thank. You. For. Reading and Reviewing and Following and Favoriting and being here. I'm not that big of an author, I know, but I don't care because I've never been yelled at, or treated poorly because my readers are absolutely amazing. That means you. You are an amazing person. I don't care whether it has to do with this story or not. You're incredible!**

* * *

Klaus jumped out of his car, dagger in hand. It had taken him just a few minutes to retrieve the dagger and white oak ash from his house and then return to the Salvatore's. The only thoughts crossing his mind were ones concerning Caroline and Jade. Two different situations, but both running between his thoughts like obsessions. She'd said Rebekah should be able to see Jade before he died, and he knew she was right. But why was she right? Was it so obvious that Rebekah needed to see him? Had Caroline even seen the two in the same room together?

Either way, she was right. Rebekah deserved to say her final goodbye...as did Jade.

Klaus, in the midst of his thoughts, almost went without noticing the moving truck parked in the driveway beside the other vehicles. How had they gotten that there in the dead of night without any of the locals noticing? Oh well, it didn't matter much. They were vampires - anything should be possible for them.

He opened the door of the house and stepped in, the smell of blood rushing into his nostrils. Apparently Jade's blood still hadn't been cleaned up. Or the blood of the other bodies lying around the house. But that wasn't a surprise. None of the vampires in the house were known for cleaning, save Elijah.

"I'm not driving. No. That's over a hundred miles with that unholy smell surrounding me," came Kol's voice from the living room.

"If not you, who?" Elijah sighed, obviously still tired after everything.

"I don't know, how about Damon? Give him a purpose for being alive."

Damon scoffed loudly. "You've been around long enough, isn't it time you see what a long car ride feels like?"

"Hell. That's what."

Klaus walked into the room, already rolling his eyes at all of them. But he wasn't there to sit around debating who drove and who stayed; he was there on business. "Rebekah, come with me," he instructed.

"Why?"

"Don't question, just do," he said hastily as he reached the door to the cellar.

She got up off the couch and followed, luckily. He really didn't feel like explaining that he wanted his sister to find love before he killed. It was completely out of the normal and he really didn't need his siblings teasing him about it.

They walked down to the end of the hall, passing cell after cell full of corpses. Klaus located the one he knew Jade was lying in and he swept in, swiftly pulling the stake out of Jade and leaving the cell straight away so he could lock it from the outside. Rebekah made to question his motives, but he cut in before she even breathed to speak. "You want to speak with him, do you not? Question me not, and just accept what I'm doing for you."

Rebekah frowned at her brother as he walked past her. "Why?"

"What did I just say?"

"Fine. Fine..." And with her ending of words, he left the cellar for her to be alone with Jade Hark, former lover.

.

Klaus looked up to see Kol standing at the top of the stairs with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" he questioned suspiciously.

Klaus sighed inwardly. Of course Kol was going to get into his business about everything. "I'm being nice to our sister."

"Since when?"

"Since someone pointed out that I should. She needs to speak with Hark before we kill him for good."

Kol licked the front of his teeth. "You just left the two of them down there by themselves?"

"She's a big girl; she can take care of herself."

Kol laughed. "That, brother, is something you might want to reconsider."

Klaus watched his brother with impatience. He trusted his sister. And even if he didn't, there was absolutely no way for Jade to get away. He was locked in the cell with the key in Klaus' pocket, and he'd have to get through the room of vampires in order to escape. Klaus wasn't doubting anything.

"Where's Caroline?" Kol questioned, trying to seem casual.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"You may not know, but I really am very concerned about her. I consider her to be my closest friend."

Klaus almost scoffed. "She hates you."

"She hated you too, didn't she, and now you're _completely and utterly in love_," he said in a dreamy voice.

Klaus clenched his jaw tightly shut, refusing the urge to snap back or possibly even smack his little brother upside the head.

Kol continued, however. "Actually, I bet she's at the house, since you smell of her mother's flowers. I'm gonna go say hi."

Klaus grabbed his arm sharply before he walked away. "Leave her alone if all you intend to do is pester. She's tired; let her rest."

"Well it's a good thing I'm known for my back rubs," he smirked, slipping his arm from Klaus' grip. "And you've got to stay here to make sure the 'Rebekah and Jade Serenade' goes according to plan. So I'll see you later."

Klaus could do nothing to stop the irritating man while walked away with pride, stutting just to show what kind of triumphant mood he was in.

.

Rebekah looked down at Jade though the cell's bars. Klaus had walked in moments before and taken the stake out of his heart, then closed the door and locked it so there would be no chance of Jade getting up and escaping. She didn't know why her brother was doing this for her, but she was grateful, even if she didn't show it.

Jade suddenly gasped for air, finding his composure quickly and sitting up. He seemed to know exactly what was going on right off the bat. His eyes trailed up to find Rebekah's sour face, and he sighed, as if to say 'figures.'

"Answer me honestly," Jade began, swallowing down the dryness of his mouth. "Am I a dead man walking?"

"Vampires tend to be," Rebekah said back.

He chuckled at her sass. "That's a definite yes."

"You can't tell me you're surprised," she scoffed in return. Over a thousand years and he didn't think they'd kill him eventually.

"No," he admitted, "but I was hopeful."

"That you'd be spared? After all this? Are you serious?"

"After everything _we've _been through I was hoping things would have changed..."

"We've been through nothing, Hark. You spent years in a box for a reason, and not just so that I could have time to fall back in love with you," she lectured. He already knew all of this, but she felt the need to repeat it, possibly for her own good.

"But did you?" he checked, raising his dark eyebrows.

"What the bloody hell do you think?"

His weak face slowly turned into a smirk. "I _know _you fell back in love with me."

Rebekah licked her lips, not denying anything. They both knew it, so what was the point in trying to change facts?

He pulled himself up off the ground, coughing once as he reached out to grab the bars. He put all his weight on the cell doors, relying on them to keep him up while he regained his balance. "Did you just miss me too much?"

There. That was the point in changing facts. He was a complete ass. That was why they were killing him in the first place - because his attitude cost millions of lives. And it also cost him her.

"Actually, Jade, I'm not in love with you. How could I be? I no longer know you," she declared.

His eyes narrowed at her through the bars. His head turned against the bars, moving the shadows across his face. "I'm the same man, darling."

"Are you, though? The man I originally fell in love with would be doing everything he could to hold me right now."

"That's a little difficult when you're the one pushing me away."

"You wouldn't, even if I was in there with you," she snarled.

"You're not giving me the option to really say what's going through my head," he accused, gripping the bars with white knuckles.

Rebekah straightened her back, giving him a nod, encouraging him to come out with whatever was 'really going through his head.' Jade licked his lips, and leaned his head back, getting a bit of strength in his neck. "I've missed you. The only reason I came back to Mystic Falls was to see you. I know you don't believe me, but it's the sad, pathetic, sappy truth. And all those years ago...I wanted to say something to you, but never got the chance. My time just ran thin-"

"Your time is still thin, so don't say anything," she demanded quickly. She knew what he wanted to say. She knew what he was doing. "I know, Hark, so there's no point in saying it for my knowledge again."

He shook his head. "No, you need to hear it. I've never said it before."

"Exactly," she nearly yelled. "So what's the point in saying it now? Now when I'll only translate it as your last chance at escaping."

"But it is," he agreed. Clearing his throat, shuffling his feet around a bit. "I've been killing myself because I've never verbalized the sentence to you. You may say you know, but you don't know until I'm sure you do. So by saying it, I'm basically setting myself free from worrying that you don't really understand."

Rebekah frowned in offence. "But you'd be imprisoning me. So no, you're not saying it."

"Rebekah-"

"Jade," she said back, saying his real name instead of his last. "Please..."

His open mouth backed down, closing in defeat. His eyes fell down to the floor, hating to look at her pained expression. His hands loosened on the bars, but remained in place.

Rebekah tried to find her breath, but her aching heart (though she hated to speak of it as such) was holding back any normal act she might have done. She couldn't blink in fear that tears would fill her eyes. This was the love of her life, after all. No matter how many times he stabbed her in the back, or she killed him, or they even had these fights, she loved him more than herself. She almost died in his place last time, but her brothers simply refused to see that through.

They'd grown up with Jade Hark. They'd all laughed together while playing tag, all teased one another about fancying others, all said goodbye to one another when the time came for war. Their entire childhoods couldn't have been complete without Jade Hark by their side. Yet Rebekah was the only one of the Mikaelsons that seemed to remember everything good about him. Everything pure that he once was.

And seeing him standing there now, on death's doorstep, wanting nothing more than for her to know he loved her...it was eating Rebekah inside and out. He needed to know that she loved him back equally.

So she walked forward quickly, his eyes raising to meet hers in hope. One hand landed on his on the bar while the other slipped through and wrapped around his neck, pulling him to meet her in the middle, between the bars, where her lips touched his for the first time in five hundred years.

.

Kol knocked on the door to the house. When no one responded, he turned the handle and stepped in slowly. "Carolly?" he sang into the empty house. "Klaus sent me to check on you." He shut the door behind him, looking around.

"Oh Kol!" came her voice from up ahead. He followed the stairs to the top, seeing her leaning over the railing with a huge smile on her face.

He walked forward, standing directly below her. "I thought you weren't feeling well. Get down here," he instructed.

"I'm in love with you," she declared in a loud voice, opening her arms to make it more dramatic.

That stopped Kol dead in his tracks. "What?"

She giggled and ran to the stairs, taking her time as she walked down. "I've been waiting to tell you for so long," she sighed halfway down. "It's been eating at my heart to tell you. You're in my dreams, Kol!" she practically sang out.

Kol held his hands up, truly confused and a tad frightened. "What is wrong with you?"

"Love me?" she cried, running up to him.

His face had gone white. "Oh Klaus is going to kill me..."

Caroline took his hands in hers. "Forget Klaus!" she cried. "It's just you and me. We'll take over the world together, Kol!"

He had no words. If Klaus knew that she was throwing herself at his younger brother, he'd kill him in a second. Kol shook his head. "Caroline, breathe."

She pointed at him in an excited way. "Hey! That's a good band!"

"What?"

"Breathe Carolina. They're gr-"

"I'm sure they're just fabulous. Now, how about we sit you down?"

"Will you sit with me?" she asked, snapping back into the dramatic mindset.

"No," he said shortly. "I'm leaving before I get killed."

"I won't kill you!" she quickly corrected. "I'll love you t-till-" Her sentence faded into giggles rather quickly. She doubled over and shook with laughter. "Your face was just..." she managed to gasp out.

Kol frowned at her. "What is going on?"

She stood up suddenly, flinging her hair behind her and inhaling deeply. "I can lie again and I'm just having way too much fun with it," she said in one breath before breaking into cackles once more.

Kol went from looking confused to pissed off. "You do realize I almost smacked you, don't you?"

"But your face," she said again in between breaths. She sobered quickly and wiped her eyes. "Alright, so what are you here for?"

Kol sighed. "I just came to check on you."

"Yeah, well, obviously I'm fine."

"You're fine? You just practically gave me a serenade."

She scoffed. "Get over yourself. I'm obviously in love with Klaus, moron."

Kol's eyebrows shot straight up and Caroline's eyes slowly widened. "Whoa whoa whoa!" he started to smile, pointing at her in excitement. "You just said-"

"I didn't mean for it to come out-"

"Oh but it did-"

"Accidentally!"

"Doesn't matter. You're in love with my brother and you can't deny it."

"Fact denied. Ha! I can lie, remember?"

"So you're denying it now? That's too bad; Klaus will be so disappointed." He made to leave, but Caroline grabbed his arm and pulled him back in place. "Ow! Relax, would you?"

"You can't say anything to him," she hissed desperately.

"Seriously? I'm not getting involved in that screwy relationship," he scoffed, taking his arm from her and straightening his jacket out. "My brother's first love in over a thousand years - I'm not meddling in there."

Caroline actually smiled at his words. "Really?"

"Why is this so surprising?"

"You're Kol Mikaelson. Mikaelson. You guys aren't nice."

He frowned and looked up. "You're right. Thanks for the reminder," he smiled, and turned to leave once again.

He halted in his stops once again when she ran in front of him. "Seriously, stop."

"I'm a joker, Caroline, I don't stop." He smirked down at her, loving that he was being able to tease someone freely. But she didn't look affected by his playful words at all. She knew what he was really doing.

"Can I hug you?"

Kol didn't even wait to hear the end of the sentence before he rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her himself. He felt her arms instantly react and embrace him in return. "I don't know if you've picked up on it yet, but I'm really a very touchy person," he said. His jaw was shut against her shoulder.

She chuckled. "I gathered that. But it's nice. At least now it won't be completely weird at family dinners."

Kol pulled back and frowned at her. "You take this entire thing for granted, you know that?"

She shrugged. "I've got a deeper connection to Klaus than you think."

He narrowed his eyes at her. It took a lot for Klaus to actually open up and connect with people. "What exactly happened when you guys were gone?"

.

Rebekah came back up the stairs, her eyes dry. She'd managed not to shed a single tear, and she was honestly proud of herself. But then again, there was nothing to cry about.

Klaus turned to her with a worried look on his face. He raised his eyebrows, awaiting her nod of approval for Jade to finally be ended. Which she gave to him. Under one term: she got to witness all of it.

.

"Caroline?"

Caroline's eyes lit up as she heard Klaus' voice. She licked the bit of ice cream off of her spoon and turned her head to watch the kitchen hallway, waiting for him to walk into her view. Kol took another scoop of cream from the container and raised his eyebrows at Caroline's excited actions. She really was in love with him. She'd gone from rolling her eyes at him to sitting up straight in her place and waiting for him to show up.

Which he did, all too soon. Kol couldn't see him, but the way Caroline's lips stretched into a huge smile let him know that she could. "You seem better," he commented, walking into the room. But only then did he realize Kol was still in the house. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm kidnapping Caroline and torturing her," Kol sighed back. "What does it look like?"

"You don't belong here. When were you invited in?"

Caroline hopped down from the counter, setting her spoon down. "Klaus, it's fine. He's here. So what?"

Kol dropped his spoon into the container and stood up from the counter, sighing. "He doesn't want me here because he's being protective," he answered. "Or selfish. One or the other. And, having thrown that out on the table, I think I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone," he smirked, walking around them towards the door.

Klaus stared down at Caroline, not pleased with his brother, but he wasn't letting that get to him too much. Caroline looked back up at him, watching him as if she could read his thoughts.

They waited patiently until they heard the front door shut behind Kol, and within a second, she had his hands in hers and was beaming excitedly. "So, something happened..."

"Care to explain, or are you going to make me guess?"

She bit her bottom lip in anticipation and bounced on the balls of her feet. "I can lie again!" she exclaimed.

Klaus, however didn't seem too thrilled. "You can," he repeated. "Since when?"

"Since you left earlier to go finish everything. I don't know what happened."

"I do. Jade lost his connection on Bonnie Bennet and she came back, instantly taking the curse off of you because she felt horrible."

Caroline's smile faded and she looked to the side, disappointed. "Ah."

"Why do you seem upset about that? Your friend is no longer evil."

"Yeah, but...I thought I was going to be able to rub it in her face for a while..." she mumbled.

Klaus chuckled. "You may no longer be under a truth spell, but you still bluntly speak your mind," he admired.

Caroline's eyes went back to his hesitantly. "Yeah. I realized that with Kol," she muttered, kicking herself mentally.

"What happened with Kol?"

"Nothing. Seriously. Anyway, how did everything go?" she changed topics.

Klaus took a tired breath. "Jade is daggered - properly - and everyone is still at the house, deciding what the plan is for tomorrow."

"Wait, we need a plan?" They'd been through enough, hadn't they? What else could there possibly be?

"The Salvatore house is a complete disaster and Elijah and Finn both decided that it was only right that everyone help...clean."

Caroline stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I have to go tomorrow and _clean_?"

"I thought you loved to clean."

"I do when it's not a chore! Can't they clean tonight?"

"Would you want to clean after everything that's happened today?"

Caroline moaned in annoyance with him. "Why can't life just be fun..." she groaned, turning around and sitting back down, looking at the ice cream in longing.

"It can be," he said, coming to sit next to her side. "But you just have to get over the rough patches."

"How many are there?" she asked, not really looking for an answer to that one. She was just pouting now. She picked up her spoon and dangled it above the ice cream, entertaining herself.

"Hundreds," he answered, "but if you know how to jump over them, then everything works out wonderfully in the end."

Leaning her head on her hand, Caroline turned to look at him. "What if I don't know how to jump over them?"

He smiled, almost proud of the conversation they were having. "Then I'll pick you up and carry you. I'll take the rough patch instead while you enjoy relaxing."

Caroline laughed. "Yeah, sure, alright."

"I'm not kidding. I can be here, if you want."

Her side chuckles came to a stop when she heard and recognized the sincerity in his voice. His eyes weren't holding any sort of amusement. He wasn't joking one bit about his words. He wanted to be there for her.

Caroline smiled brightly, even through her overwhelmed breath. What was wrong with her? Her emotions were all over the place. She went from hating a man to loving him within a mere deep conversation. It had taken less than a week. Less than ten days, as she had been planning. He definitely had wooed her. Charmed her to the moon and back. Actually, no. He hadn't really charmed her at all. He'd just opened up to her, and she completely fell for the man he showed her.

Klaus took the spoon from her, dipping it into the hard cream and holding it out to her with a smile. "Let's not think about that. It still seems a touchy topic," he decided.

Caroline wrapped her lips around the spoon and slid the cold substance off. "It's not a touchy topic," she said, moving the food around in her mouth so she could talk. "I'm just thinking about how much I like it."

"Like the thought of me being with you?"

"I like the thought of us. Not just you liking me. But us both...working...together...as one," she said slowly, searching for the words that had escaped her.

Klaus chuckled. "I understand what you're saying. I just don't know why, or how."

She shrugged. "I don't know, either. But I'm all for it. Let's just make it happen," she set up the plan, feeling her heartbeat pick up at just the thought of their future, "and see where we go from there."

Klaus licked his lips, looking down at the counter. Caroline shifted nervously in her seat, waiting to see if he agreed or backed out. She honestly didn't know if she'd be able to control herself if either happened. If he agreed, she'd be completely overjoyed and lose her ability to think once again. But if he said no...she wouldn't recover.

But he cleared his throat, and nodded. "Very well. Where do we start?"

"I love you."

* * *

**So, after my sappy beginning and then actual story and then that really abrupt ending, I'm thinking you guys hate me because I'm such a loser. But I'm a loser that loves you too much to care about having no life. X) **

**...Hold on, now I'm just saying random stuff...like, that came out of nowhere. **

**Sorry I'm so messed up. Review and all that fancy stuff. Eat a cake for reading to the end because you deserve it. **


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